Golden Bears secure seventh consecutive trip to CCC title game

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (May 3, 2017) – The second-seeded Western New England University men's lacrosse team used a dominant first quarter performance to defeat third-seeded University of New England (UNE), 11-7, in the semifinal round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium.  

With the win, Western New England (8-9) advances to the CCC title game for the seventh consecutive season, where the Golden Bears will take on the winner of tonight's other semifinal matchup between Endicott and Curry. UNE's season comes to a close at 14-5.

Top Performers
• Sophomore Tim Breau (Lima, N.Y.) led five multi-point performers for Western New England with two goals and two assists. Junior Nicholas Beauchamp (Wilbraham, Mass.) and sophomore Jared Ward (Littleton, Mass.) contributed three points each, while seniors Frank Medlicott (Stanwood, Wash.) and Keegan Dudeck (Longmeadow, Mass.) both recorded two points.
• Sophomore Hunter Cocks (Walden, N.Y.) went 15-for-22 (68%) at the face-off X and collected a game-high 13 ground balls, while junior goalie Steven Kerr (Hopkinton, Mass.) finished with 14 saves on 21 shots.
• Freshman Oskar Djusberg (Abington, Mass.) secured six ground balls and caused a team-high four turnovers.

• Junior Tom Luttrell (Greenbrae, Calif.) paced the UNE offense with three goals, while senior Andrew Curro (Niskayuna, N.Y.) scored one goal and handed out an assist.
• Freshman Adam Race (Erieville, N.Y.) led the Nor'easters in both ground balls (eight) and caused turnovers (six).

Game Review
• Western New England came out firing on all cylinders, as the Golden Bears put 14 shots on target in the first quarter and claimed a commanding 8-0 lead.
• Junior Marc Fiocco (Somers, N.Y.) got it started with an unassisted goal just 51 seconds into the contest, before Breau made it 3-0 with a pair of quick strikes at 10:54 and 10:39, respectively.
• The Golden Bears continued to roll early, as Beauchamp found the back of the net at the 9:46 mark and Cocks tallied his third goal of the season after picking up a ground ball from a shot by Medlicott that rung off the post just 12 seconds later.
• Freshman Nick Gamba (East Islip, N.Y.) got in on the action with 7:44 remaining in the period, before Ward (6:30) and Beauchamp (5:00) added goals to extend Western New England's lead to 8-0.
• UNE got back into the contest with a 4-0 second quarter that featured two goals by Luttrell, but the Nor'easters still trailed 8-4 at halftime.
• Western New England was able to maintain its four-goal advantage heading into the final quarter as Medlicott and Ward both scored in the third.
• Breau set up Dudeck with 5:08 left in the game, giving the Golden Bears an 11-6 lead.
• UNE was able to produce just one goal the rest of the way, as Luttrell capped the scoring with 2:16 on the clock to cut the final margin to four.

Notes
• Western New England outshot UNE 19-7 in the first quarter, but the Nor'easters held a 46-43 edge overall.
• The Golden Bears won the ground ball battle, 41-32.
• Breau has recorded 17 points over his last five games.