Middlebury, VT. (November 11, 2023) - The Golden Bears took on the Middlebury College Panthers in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Both conference winners were hoping to keep their seasons alive. Jordan Saint-Louis would notch two goals and help the Panthers cruise to a 3-0 win over the Golden Bears.
Records:
- Western New England: 6-7-7 (5-1-2)
- Middlebury College: 13-1-4 (7-0-3)
How it Happened:
It was game time after the warmups were finished and the starting lineups were read. The NCAA Tournament started for both teams. Braylon Casinghino and Ryan Grady started in net for the Golden Bears and Panthers, respectively. The Golden Bears pushed the pace early and saw a shot by Shay O'Neill go over the crossbar and wide right. Then, Roger Leland had a shot in the 8th minute, but Grady was there to make the save. O'Neill followed that with a shot that was blocked. That led to Middlebury driving the ball toward the Golden Bear net and Will Sawin just missing a shot wide of the net. The Golden Bears pushed back, with Malik Serriser having a shot go wide of the net. The Panthers then found another gear and started to press. Gavin Randolph had a shot hit off the woodwork, and it would find Tyler Payne, who missed the shot to the left of the net. Randolph had another shot just after that that would go high and wide of the net.
The 18th minute saw the Panthers break open the scoring with a goal from Jordan Saint-Louis. Saint-Louis sent a shot toward the upper left part of the net and snuck it right into the back of the net. Middlebury led 1-0. The Golden Bears tried to match the speed of Middlebury and pushed the ball toward the net, but Middlebury would answer with two shots from Randolph, which were saved by Casinghino. The 30th minute saw the Golden Bears march towards the net, and after a corner kick, Mike Milazzo sent a header shot at goal, and it went right off the woodwork. The Golden Bears were that close to evening the score at one. The game continued, and in the 40th minute, Brennan Johnson had a shot over the net. After a few more minutes of play, the first half came to a conclusion. After the first half of play, the Panthers led in shots 7-6, shots on goal 3-1, and corner kicks 4-2. The Golden Bears had three more fouls than the Panthers (6-3). The score at half was 1-0 Middlebury.
Right out of the gate for the second half, Middlebury looked to double their lead. Saint-Louis did just that in the 48th minute when Harper Nicholl found Saint-Louis running past the defenders, who put it into the back of the net on the left side of the net. The Panthers had a 2-0 lead. The Panthers kept their foot on the gas with a Colin Dugan shot that bounced off the woodwork. Jack Leland had a shot in the 54th minute for the Golden Bears, but it was blocked. Then, after a shot from Saint-Louis and one from Ben Powers, the Panthers scored again in the 64th minute. It was Dugan who found Tyler Payne with a pass, and Payne was able to find the back of the net with a shot, and the Panthers had climbed to a 3-0 lead. The Panthers kept going for goal, with Dugan having a shot go high in the 66th minute. With Ryan Suprin in net for the Golden Bears after a substitution, Nicholl tested Suprin, and Suprin made the save. The 79th minute saw Suprin make another save in the lower left corner of the net. The Golden Bears tried to gain momentum, and Malik Serriser had a shot go high of the net in the 82nd minute. Middlebury came right back with a shot from Jacob Charles. It was off-target and did not test Suprin. However, Dugan tested Suprin again in the 87th minute. Surpin was equal to the task again. Middlebury finished the game with three shots in the 89th minute. Dugan and Charles made Suprin make back-to-back saves. Then, Charles had a shot blocked by the WNE defense, which finished the shots for the game. After 90 minutes of play, Middlebury led in total shots 20-8, shots on goal 10-1, and corner kicks 6-2. WNE had more saves, 7-1, and more fouls, 8-7. Middlebury beat WNE and knocked them out of the tournament by a score of 3-0.
Inside the Lines:
- The Golden Bears traveled to Vermont for their opening-round game of the NCAA Tournament against Middlebury College.
- Jordan Saint-Louis scored the first goal in the 18th minute. Middlebury led 1-0.
- Jordan Saint-Louis scored again in the 48th minute to extend the lead to 2-0. Harper Nicholl was credited with the assist.
- Tyler Payne finished the scoring with a goal in the 64th minute to extend the lead to 3-0. Colin Dugan had the assist.
- Braylon Casinghino had two saves, and Ryan Suprin had five saves for the Golden Bears.
- Ryan Grady made one save for Middlebury.
- The Panthers beat the Golden Bears 3-0.
Up Next on the Schedule:
- The Golden Bears see their season end with that loss to Middlebury College. They finished the season with a record of 6-7-7 overall and a conference record of 5-1-2.
- The Panthers will move on to the next round of the NCAA tournament, which they will host in Middlebury, Vermont, on Sunday, November 12. The game will be at 1:00 PM, and the opponent is still to be determined.
