West Springfield, Mass. (November 3, 2023) - The Golden Bears welcomed the number 11 nationally ranked University of New England to the Olympia Ice Center for their first conference game of the season. The Golden Bears got the first goal of the game. However, the Nor'Easters would answer with three in the first period, two in the second period, and one in the third period to win the game 6-1. 

Records:

• Western New England: 1-2-0 (0-1-0)
• University of New England: 1-1-0 (1-0-0)

How it Happened:
The game got started with a Matty Zdanowicz faceoff win. The Golden Bears had Andrew LoRusso in net, and the Nor'Easters had Billy Girard in net. The Nor'Easters started the game with three quick shots. LoRusso had to make two saves. The Golden Bears came back with two shots. Girard had to make one save. After both teams kept going back and forth with shots for the first five minutes of play, Brayden Patricia got the Golden Bears on the board. Finn Bambery sent a pass to Billy Hefferle in front of the net. Hefferle redirected the pass to Brayden Patrica, who sent the puck in the back of the net, and the Golden Bears had the lead. Soon after the goal, the Golden Bears went on the penalty kill. It took the Nor'Easters one shot in the power play, and they had the game tied at 1-1. Juraj Elias sent a pass to Chip Hamlett. Hamlett passed it to Anthony Sciucco, who passed it back to Hamlett. Hamlett then waited and sent a wrist shot past the WNE goalie to tie the game with a power play goal. 

Two and a half minutes later, the Nor'Easters would strike again. Anthony Cinato would receive a pass from Dominic Murphy and go on a breakaway. Cinato would make a move and get the puck past the WNE goalie before sliding past the net. The score was 2-1. UNE would keep the pressure on after that goal with multiple shots that tested LoRusso. Each shot that tested LoRusso was saved. Then, WNE went on the power play. WNE had four shots during the power play, with two of them on Girard. Girard made both saves. Both teams went back and forth with shots until three seconds left in the first period when Dominic Murphy found Jayden Price on the right side of the ice. Price then sent the puck across the face of the goal to Kevin O'Keefe, who slotted it past the WNE goalie. The score was now 3-1, UNE, and that ended the period. The first period saw the Nor'Easters have 20 shots to the Golden Bears' 12. UNE had 15 shots on goal compared to the eight from WNE. UNE also won the faceoff battle, 16-7. Both teams had a power play during the opening period.

Matty Zdanowicz would win the opening faceoff in the second period. The Nor'Easters opened the period with eight straight shots. Four of those shots were on goal, and LoRusso made each save. The Golden Bears then went on the power play. However, there were no shots during the power play. The Nor'Easters then outshot the Golden Bears 14-3 before the next penalty was called. The Nor'Easters went to the power play with 10:55 left in the second period. The Nor'Easters had seven shots during the power play. Three of the shots made it to goal, but LoRusso saved each shot. Shortly after the power play concluded, Nathan Chickering got the fourth goal of the night for the Nor'Easters. Noah Szretter sent the puck to Will Spitzer, who sent it lacrosse the ice to Chickering, who sent it flying into the back of the net, 4-1 UNE. The teams would go back and forth with shots after that, with UNE having a few more than WNE. With 2:14 left in the second period, Chickering got another goal for the Nor'Easters. Chickering skated past the WNE defense and sent it into the back of the net for the 5-1 UNE lead. Quickly after that goal, the second period ended. The second period saw the Nor'Easters lead in shots 36-7, shots on goal 20-5, and faceoffs won 9-8. Both teams had one power play during the second period.

The final period started with Garrett Devine winning the faceoff for UNE. Then, UNE had four straight shots. All of which were saved by LoRusso. UNE went on the power play 2:28 into the third period of play. The Nor'Easters had five shots with four on goal during the beginning of the power play. LoRusso made the four saves. Then, Anthony Sciucco would score to make the score 6-1. Elias found Ryan Kuzmich, who found Sciucco. Sciucco sent the puck into the top of the net for the power play goal. The Nor'Easters would control the puck for most of the time after that, with multiple shots that LoRusso saved.
WNE had a couple of shots on goal after that. UNE would go back on the power play with just over eight minutes left in the game. UNE had two shots during the power play with no shots on goal. Jordie Morgan had a short-handed opportunity that Girard made the save on. Then, with just over four minutes left in the game, WNE went on the power play. WNE had a shot during the power play, but it was blocked. They would have a shot after the power play, as well. However, it was blocked. UNE would finish the game on the power play. They had two shots, with one being saved by LoRusso, and that was the end of the game. The final stats showed 82 shots from UNE and 25 shots from WNE. UNE had 50 shots on goal, and WNE had 16. UNE had five power plays to WNE's three. UNE won 38 faceoffs, and WNE won 22. WNE had more blocked shots by a score of 12-4. UNE won the game, 6-1. 

Inside the Crease:

• The Golden Bears hosted the Nor'Easters in their first CCC conference game of the season.
• Brayden Patricia got the first goal of the game for the Golden Bears at the 5:33 mark in the first period. Finn Bambery and Billy Hefferle were credited with the assists. WNE led 1-0.
• Chip Hamlett notched a power play goal a minute and a half later to tie up the game at 1-1. Juraj Elias and Anthony Sciucco were credited with the assists.
• Anthony Cinato gave the Nor'Easters the lead two and a half minutes after the first UNE goal. Dominic Murphy had the assist on the play. The UNE lead was 2-1.
• With three seconds left in the first period, Kevin O'Keefe scored to give the Nor'Easters a 3-1 lead. Dominic Murphy and Jayden Price had the assists on the goal.
• Nathan Chickering added to the Nor'Easter lead with a goal 13:07 into the second period. Noah Szretter and Will Spitzer assisted Chickering on the play. The score was 4-1, UNE.
• Nathan Chickering scored a second goal with just over two minutes left in the second period. The Nor'Easters led 5-1.
• Anthony Sciucco scored the final goal of the game on the power play. Juraj Elias and Ryan Kuzmuch had the assists. The score was 6-1.
• Billy Girard had 15 saves.
• Andrew LoRusso had 44 saves.
• UNE beat WNE 6-1.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Both teams will travel up to Biddeford, Maine, for their second game of the series on Saturday, November 4. That game will be played at the Harold Alfond Forum at 7:00 PM.