West Hartford, Conn. (October 24, 2023) - The Golden Bears headed to West Hartford, Connecticut, for a matchup with the University of Hartford Hawks in their final regular season game of the year. A late goal by Brennan Johnson sealed the game for the Golden Bears as they won 1-0.

Records:

• Western New England: 6-6-5 (5-1-2)
• University of Hartford: 4-8-2 (3-4-2)

How it Happened:

The game started with the Golden Bears kicking off first. Ryan Suprin got the start in net for the Golden Bears. Ryan Lunn was in net for the Hawks. The game started with the teams moving the ball back and forth. Both teams made runs towards the other team's net, but no shots were taken for the first 13 minutes of the game. In the 14th minute, Kellijah Morgan took a shot on net. Suprin was there to make the save. The 16th minute saw Shay O'Neill take a shot that missed to the left of the net. Jack Leland then had the first shot on goal for the Golden Bears. Lunn would make the save. Nicholas Castrovinci countered that shot with a shot on net. Suprin was there, though, to make the save.

Hartford would have a corner, leading to a shot on net from Nate Becher, but Suprin was there again for the save. The action was heating up. Jayden Montagna had a shot blocked by the Hartford defense. Then, Morgan had another shot on Suprin in the 26th minute that was saved, and Matt Spruill would answer with a shot that missed high in the 28th minute. Roger Leland followed that shot up with one in the 29th minute. However, it was blocked by the defense before getting to the net. Brandon Lewis would then have a shot saved by Lunn in the 33rd minute, and Roger Leland would have a shot go high of the net in the 34th minute. Carlson Rose had a shot in the 35th minute that Lunn had to save. The 40th minute saw Hartford respond with a shot from Castrovinci that missed to the left of the net. Rose answered with a shot in the 44th minute that got to Lunn, and Lunn had to make a save and did. That was the final shot of the half. The Golden Bears and Hawks were knotted at 0-0 going into the halftime break. The first-half stat line showed the Golden Bears ahead on shots 9-5. The Hawks had the lead in fouls 4-3. The teams were even in saves 4-4, shots on goal, 4-4, and corner kicks 2-2.

After the break, Hartford kicked off and was the first to get a shot off in the second half. Jayden Castro had a shot in the 51st minute. Suprin made the save. Alex Quinones took a shot that would go over the net. The 57th minute saw Nick Edward have a shot on net for the Golden Bears. Lunn made the save and kept the score tied at zero. The next shot was taken by Vinny Romeo in the 64th minute. Lunn would make that save, too. The Golden Bears kept the pressure up with a shot by Jack Levesque, but it was blocked by the defense. Roger Leland would then send a shot over the net in the 73rd minute. Finally, the Golden Bear pressure would pay off. Brennan Johnson sent a shot toward the upper right corner of the net, and it hit the back of the net for the opening goal of the game. WNE led 1-0. The Golden Bears kept up the pressure with a shot by Andrew Macca that Lunn had to save to keep the deficit at one. Jonny Clough then had a shot on goal that Lunn saved in the 82nd minute. Ron Palilo would follow that shot with one for Hartford. However, it would go over the net. Morgan would follow the shot with one that Suprin saved. The final shot of the game was from Alex Quinones. It missed high of the net, and the Golden Bears held on for the 1-0 win against the Hawks. The final stat line showed the Golden Bears ahead on shots 16-10 and shots on goal 9-6. The Hawks led on saves 8-6 and fouls 10-5. Both teams had two corner kicks each during the game.

Inside the Lines:

• WNE traveled to West Hartford, Connecticut, for a matchup with the Hawks.
• Brennan Johnson scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute of the game. WNE led 1-0.
• Ryan Suprin made six saves and recorded the shutout.
• Ryan Lunn made eight saves during the game.
• Western New England beat Hartford 1-0.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears are the overall number-one seed in the CCC tournament. They will have a bye for the first-round game on Saturday. Their next game is to be determined.
• That was the last game of the season for the Hawks. They finished the season with a 4-8-2 record.