SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 1, 2023) – The Western New England field hockey team opened their season in style, winning on a last-minute goal from Carly-Anna Barba to propel the Golden Bears past a pesky Wheaton College Lyons squad by a final score of 3-2 from Golden Bear Stadium. 
Records:

• Western New England: 1-0
• Wheaton College: 0-1

How it Happened:
Western New England opened with the first quarter with their first goal of the season when Olivia Eastman found the back of the net for Western New England, giving the blue and gold the quick 1-0 lead. Wheaton College would find their offensive attack late in the first quarter and would even the score when Anda Brown found goal on an assist from Mackenzie Yates. The Lyons would take just one shot in the first quarter to the Golden Bears' six, though the score would remain even after one quarter of play. 

Olivia Eastman would be the lone goal scorer of the second quarter as the Golden Bears took the 2-1 lead heading into halftime, grabbing her second of the game. Eastman would find a loose ball and sneak a shot just past Emma Lapreziosa, Wheaton's senior goalkeeper, giving the Golden Bears their one goal advantage back. The Golden Bears would take the only six shots of the second quarter as WNE would control much of the offensive attack in the frame. 
Wheaton came back with a goal of their own to tie the game after Maria Worden would send a pass to teammate Riley Levrault, to push a shot past GK Zoey Wexler and into the back of the net, evening the score for the second time on the night. Wheaton came through with three shots in the quarter, their most thus far. 

The score would remain even after 45 minutes of play as WNE would have the 17-4 shots advantage. WNE controlled much of the offense in the fourth quarter, resulting in four penalty corners. The fourth and final penalty corner of the night would be all the difference for the Golden Bears after Amanda Burns would receive the inputted corner and send a soaring shot towards the left side of the goal that was poked at by Carly-Anna Barba and deflected into the net with just 48 seconds remaining in the contest, giving WNE their one goal lead back. WNE would fight in the final 48 seconds to hold off the Lyons, giving the Golden Bears the 3-2 win. 

Inside the Box: 
·      Carly-Anna Barba's late tally gave WNE their first victory of the season. 
·      GK Ella Henry played the final 15 minutes of the game and picked up the win for WNE. 
·      Emma Lapreziosa made 12 saves for Wheaton in the loss. 
·      Wheaton mustered just three shots in the contest, though scored two goals. 

Up Next on the Schedule:
·      WNE travels to Springfield College on Sunday, September 3 at 1:00 PM for a cross-town rival contest.