Springfield, Mass. (November 4, 2023) - The Golden Bears hosted the Hawks of Roger Williams University in the Men's Soccer CCC Championship. The Hawks would take an early 1-0 lead. However, the Golden Bears answered with two goals before the end of the first half. Roger Williams would answer with a goal in the second half. The game went to overtime and then a shootout. The Golden Bears won the game 5-4 in the shootout.

Records:

• Western New England: 6-6-7 (5-1-2)
• Roger Williams University: 8-4-9 (4-2-2)

How it Happened:

The game got started with Braylon Casinghino and Jack Avellar in net for the Golden Bears and Hawks, respectively. Shay O'Neill had the first shot of the game in the 2nd minute. It was blocked by the Hawks' defense. O'Neill had another shot in the 5th minute. CJ Sousa answered with a shot for the Hawks in the 7th minute. John Fogarty was found by CJ Sousa on the side of the WNE net and sent a pass right by the WNE keeper and into the back of the net. The Hawks had a 1-0 lead. The Golden Bears would start to put pressure on the Hawks after two Hawk corner kicks. Matt Spruill had a shot in the 13th minute that was saved by Avellar. The rebound would go right to Mike Milazzo, who slotted home the equalizing goal, and the score was 1-1. The 16th minute saw AJ Quiterio have a shot blocked by the Hawk defense. Mike Riley had the same happen in the 20th minute. The ball traveled from side to side for a while until Roger Leland sent a shot at Avellar, who made the save in the bottom right corner of the net.

The Golden Bears then had three straight shots, with two not making it on net and Sean Lanzillo having an opportunity on net, but Avellar made a big save. That led to a corner kick that O'Neill would loft over the Hawk defense to Milazzo, who rose up and sent a header shot into the back of the goal. The Golden Bears led 2-1. Jack Wildermann answered for the Hawks. Casinghino would make the save. Leland and Milazzo would each have a shot that went wide of the net. Finally, in the 45th minute, Dylan Thomas had a shot blocked before the end of the first half. The stat line at half showed WNE leading in shots 14-4, shots on goal 5-2, corner kicks 3-2, and fouls 6-5. The Hawks had more saves by a score of 3-1. The score was 2-1 Golden Bears at the halftime break.

After the break, Roger Williams took control of most of the possession. The Hawks had three straight shots to start the second half. One of which was from Will Schiffer and was saved by Casinghino. Max Patenaude would get a shot on the right woodwork and would send a shot over the net during that series, as well. The 50th minute saw O'Neill send a shot at Avellar, which was saved. Wildermann answered with a shot in the 52nd minute. It was saved by Casinghino. Milazzo answered with a shot a minute later. Avellar would make the save to keep the score 2-1. Schiffer tried a shot in the 60th minute. However, it was blocked by the WNE defense. Wildermann had a shot in the 63rd minute that was blocked, as well. Jason Salley went for goal in the 69th minute. It went wide of the net. The 75th minute would see the Hawks tie the game at two. Matt Bagley sent the ball to Jason Horvath, who put the ball into the back of the net, and the score was tied 2-2. The rest of the half saw both teams push the ball back and forth without a shot. The final shot came at the end of the second half. Milazzo had a shot that was saved by Avellar. The stat line after the second half had the Hawks lead in shots 8-3, saves 3-2, and corner kicks 2-0. The Golden Bears had more shots on goal by a score of 3-1. Both teams had seven fouls during the second half. The score was knotted at two after 90 minutes of play, so the teams went to overtime. 

The first half of overtime saw the Golden Bears with most of the possession. Jayden Montagna and Sean Lanzillo both had shots go wide of the net. The second half of overtime saw the same with possession. Josh Gstell had the lone shot, which was blocked by the RWU defense. The game was still tied after overtime, so a shootout would decide the CCC champion. Casinghino and Avellar were the keepers for the shootout. CJ Sousa went first for the Hawks. Casignhino saved the shot. Mike Milazzo made the first shot for the Golden Bears. Will Schiffer and Jayden Montagna would both make the second penalty kicks. Justin Horvath and Jack Leland made the third shots. Jason Salley and Roger Leland made the fourth kicks. Finally, Jack Wildermann made the shot for the Hawks, and it was all down to AJ Quiterio, who sent the ball in the back of the net, and the Golden Bears were CCC Champions once again. The Golden Bears won the game 5-4 in penalty kicks.

Inside the Lines:

• John Fogarty scored the opening goal in the 8th minute on a goal assisted by CJ Sousa. The Hawks led 1-0.
• Mike Milazzo answered with a goal in the 13th minute. Mike Riley and Matt Spruill had the assists. The score was tied 1-1.
• Mike Milazzo scored the second goal for the Golden Bears in the 32nd minute. Shay O'Neill was credited with the assist. The Golden Bears led 2-1.
• Justin Horvath scored the second goal for the Hawks. Matt Bagley was credited with the assist. The score was tied 2-2.
• Jack Avellar had six saves. 
• Braylon Casinghino had three saves.
• The game went to a shootout, and the Golden Bears won 5-4 in the shootout.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will head to the NCAA tournament and will wait to see who they will play. The selection show will be on Monday, November 6, at 2:00 PM.
• The Hawks finish their season with this game. They finished the season with a record of 8-4-9 and a conference record of 4-2-2.