Springfield, Mass. (September 14, 2023) - The Men's Soccer team returned to Suprenant field for a non-conference matchup with the Babson College Beavers. The Golden Bears entered the game looking for their first win of the year. The first half was a stalemate, with neither team giving an inch. However, two second-half goals from Sam Morgan gave the Beavers the 2-0 win.

Records:

• Western New England: 0-3-2 (0-0-0)
• Babson College: 3-2-1 (0-0-0)

How it Happened:

Miles Lanier got his second start in net of his Golden Bear career on one side of the pitch, while junior goalkeeper Walker White got the start in the other net. The game started scrappy, with both teams trying to muscle their way toward an opportunity. They battled back and forth, with Babson gaining a lot of the control. The game's first shot came in the 12th minute when Patrick Damaso sent a shot off-target of the net. That was followed in the 15th minute by Sean Lanzillo getting a shot on goal from the left corner, but White made the save. The game started to heat up as Lorenzo Mancini sent a shot high and wide of the net in the 16th minute. The 21st minute saw Mike Milazzo go for goal, but the ball flew high of the net.

The ball kept bouncing from team to team. Babson could control the ball a little more than WNE, but WNE had opportunities to control the pace, too. Robin Pestka had a chance for Babson but sent the ball to the right of the net. That was quickly followed up by Jake Thibodeau sending a shot left of the net. The 36th minute saw Brennan Johnson send a ball over the net when going for goal. At the end of the first half, Babson challenged Lanier with two big shots. One of them, Lanier, made a move to save the shot. The second, coming in the 45th minute of play, Lanier had to slide at to save and was able to deflect it out of bounds. That was the last major opportunity of the half, and the score was tied 0-0 at the break. The first half was pretty even on the stat sheet. Babson had five shots, and WNE had four. Lanier had to make two saves, and White had to make one. Babson had three corner kicks and two fouls, whereas WNE had one corner and 11 fouls.

The second half started with the Golden Bears being more aggressive. Dom Bugnacki had a shot go off-target early in the half. Shay O'Neill had an opportunity flying across the top of the penalty box. O'Neill sent a shot across the face of the goal, and it just glanced off the woodwork and away from the net. Then, Shay O'Neill found another opportunity at the top of the penalty area and sent a shot right at the goal, and White was there for the save. Milazzo and Serriser followed that up with shots that were blocked by Babson's defenders. The 61st minute saw Ryan Kim get the first shot of the second half for the Beavers. Lanier would not have to make a save on it. Bugnacki would go for goal again in the 63rd minute, but it went high of the net. The 64th minute saw Sam Morgan score for the Beavers.

Morgan found the ball fall in the WNE penalty box. Morgan sent a shot at the goal, and it just got past Lanier to give the Beavers the 1-0 lead. Babson kept the pressure up and continued to keep the possession. Justin Stone had a shot go high of the net. That was followed by Bugnacki and Lanzillo shots that went to the left and right of the net, respectively. The 73rd minute saw the ball get crossed to Pestka in front of a wide-open Golden Bear net, but Mike Riley jumped in front of the ball for the save. However, the Beavers would get another look at a goal, and they would capitalize. A Babson player was taken down in the penalty area. The official pointed to the spot in the 81st minute, and Babson had a penalty kick. Sam Morgan would calmly take the shot and send it straight into the back of the net to double the lead for the Beavers. The score was now 2-0. The two teams battled back and forth for the final nine minutes of play. Babson's Stone had a shot go right of the net. Then, Jack Leland had an opportunity, but White made the final save of the game on the shot. The game finished with Babson having 12 shots (five on goal) and WNE having 13 shots (three on goal). Both keepers were credited with three saves. Babson finished with three corners, and WNE finished with two. WNE finished with 16 fouls, and Babson finished with nine. The final score saw Babson win 2-0.

Inside the Lines:

• WNE hosted Babson College at Suprenant Field at 4:00 PM.
• The first half finished 0-0.
• Sam Morgan scored in the 64th minute to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead.
• Morgan scored again on a penalty kick in the 81st minute to extend the lead to 2-0.
• Walker White had three saves for the Beavers.
• Miles Lanier had three saves for the Golden Bears.
• Babson beat WNE by a score of 2-0.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will stay at home for their next matchup as they welcome the Curry Colonels to campus for their first CCC game of the year. That game will be on Saturday, September 16, at 2:30 PM.
• The Beavers will return home for a NEWMAC matchup with WPI. That game will be played on Saturday, September 16, at 1:00 PM.