Springfield, Mass. (October 30, 2024) – The Golden Bears hosted the Bison of Nichols College for their regular season finale. The Golden Bears would score in the 1st minute to open the contest and then record two more goals to lead 3-0 at the half. Tyler Lewis recorded two goals, with Keegan Reim recording two assists also in the first half. Lewis would complete the hat trick in the second half. Matt Spruill and Brennan Johnson would add goals, as well, to lead the Golden Bears to a 6-0 victory.

Records:

• Western New England: 9-8-3 (5-3-1)
• Nichols College: 4-11-2 (1-6-2)

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears entered Wednesday's contest needing a win or a draw to secure home-field advantage for the first round of the CNE postseason tournament. They would start Roger Leland in net against Franco Barreto Santana, who was in net for the Bison. Tyler Lewis got the contest started with a goal thirty-one seconds into the match. A throw-in from Jack Leland found Sam Riley, who sent the ball to Matt Spruill in front of the goal. Spruill sent a shot at goal, which ricocheted off the crossbar to Tyler Lewis, who sent a shot into the back of the net. WNE led 1-0. The Golden Bears would resume pressure after the kickoff with two shots saved by Barreto Santana in the third minute. Lewis had both shots. The second shot led to a WNE corner, which was cleared. The teams traded possession until a WNE corner kick in the 12th minute from Keegan Reim found Jack Leland in front of the goal, who redirected the pass into the goal. WNE led 2-0. That did not stop WNE. They kept the momentum building until the Bison had a shot blocked in the 15th minute. That was immediately answered by a Shay O'Neill shot for WNE. It was saved by Barreto Santana.

However, the 18th minute saw the Golden Bears get a third goal in the first twenty minutes of play. Tyler Lewis received a pass from Keegan Reim and fired a shot into the middle of the goal. The Golden Bears had a 3-0 lead, with Lewis having two goals and Reim having two assists. After that goal, Lewis went for the early hat trick in the 20th minute. Barreto Santana denied the goal-scoring opportunity. WNE would earn a corner kick but could not earn a shot. Then, in the 22nd minute, William Pugliese-Savage had a shot saved by Leland in the center of the goal for the Bison's first shot on goal. The game would settle down with the teams trading possession. Both teams had shots that did not make it to the goal. Then, WNE went back on the attack. Tyler Lewis had another hat trick opportunity. However, the shot glanced off the left post in the 28th minute. Reim got the rebound and sent a shot at goal, but Barreto Santana was there to make the save. The Golden Bears kept the pressure on with a shot in the 31st minute. The Bison would fight back after that with a shot chance and a corner kick opportunity in both the 32nd and 34th minutes. They were the final first-half chances for the Bison. The Golden Bears kept the pressure up with shots in the 35th and 36th minutes. Owen Dieterle had a shot saved by Barreto Santana. WNE had a shot in the 41st minute and then three corner kick chances in the final minute of the first half, with a shot missing wide of the goal after the final corner kick. The first half ended with the Golden Bears in the lead, 3-0. The stats saw WNE leading in shots 16-4, shots on goal 9-1, corner kicks 7-2, and fouls 4-2. The Bison led 6-1 in saves.

The second half saw a similar story play out. The Golden Bears started the half with two shots in the 47th minute and then a 49th-minute goal from Tyler Lewis. Lewis would receive the ball off an attempted clear from the Bison defense. Lewis would get the ball and slide it into the bottom-left corner of the net to claim a first career Golden-Bear hat trick. WNE had a 4-0 lead. The Bison would respond by earning a corner kick chance in the 51st minute. However, WNE stifled that chance by clearing the ball. WNE had a shot in the 53rd minute go wide. The Bison maintained possession for a little while and had a 59th-minute shot saved by Roger Leland. Alexandro Montreuil had the shot on goal for the Bison. The Golden Bears immediately responded in the 61st minute with a Sam Riley shot on goal, which Barreto Santana parried away for a WNE corner kick. The Bison would clear the ball, but WNE got it back, and Brandon Lewis had a 66th-minute shot saved by Barreto Santana.

The teams traded possession for a little while before Jacob Dounetos had a shot saved by Barreto Santana in the 73rd minute. The ball would fall to Matt Spruill after the save, and Spruill would send the ball back at the net and would score to give the Golden Bears a 5-0 lead. WNE was not done. Adam Saleh saw a shot glance off the right post in the 74th minute. WNE had two shots in the 75th minute. In the beginning of the 78th minute, the Bison had to resume play with ten players after a red card was shown by the referee. The 79th minute saw WNE have a shot go wide, and the 80th minute saw a shot from Brennan Johnson saved by Barreto Santana. WNE kept applying pressure with four shots in the 83rd minute. Three of the shots were saved by Barreto Santana. Nick Edward had the first shot on goal, and Brennan Johnson had the last two shots on goal in that minute. WNE had a corner kick in the 84th minute sent away by the Bison defense. Then, WNE had a shot go wide in the 87th minute. Matty Leonard would send a high-arching pass which fell right to Brennan Johnson, who slotted a shot right into the bottom-right corner of the goal, and the Golden Bears led 6-0 in the 87th minute. WNE had one more shot in the 88th minute go wide, and soon after, the final whistle sounded. WNE won the game 6-0. The final stats saw WNE leading in shots 36-5, shots on goal 19-2, corner kicks 9-3, and fouls 10-7. The Bison had more saves, 13-2.

Coach's Corner

Head coach Devin O'Neill was asked what the mindset is for the team going into playoffs after today's 6-0 win. "Excitement! It was nice to score, and Tyler gets a hat trick. That was exciting. Very good performance, and I think the guys feel really good about it, so maybe a little bit of momentum. We'll try to replicate some things on Saturday, do our best," O'Neill commented.

Tyler Lewis, who had the hat trick performance in the game, was asked how Lewis feels after scoring the hat trick. "It felt great," Lewis noted. "I couldn't have done it without the midfield. Everyone playing me balls (passes). It came from the midfield. They all just fed me the balls (passes), I made the runs, I did the easy part, they did the hard stuff, so just shoutout to them."

Roger Leland, who was switched from forward to goalkeeper for the second consecutive game, was asked how it felt to get the shutout. "Feels pretty good. Like Ty said, the boys worked hard. It's good to see them work hard. It's good to see them get the win they deserve," Leland answered. "They (the WNE team) made my job pretty easy today," Leland stated at the end.

Inside the Lines:

• WNE hosted Nichols College on Suprenant Field on Wednesday afternoon.
• 0:31 – Tyler Lewis netted the first goal of the game on WNE's first major chance. Matt Spruill was credited with the assist. WNE led 1-0.
• 11:33 – Jack Leland doubled the lead for WNE with a goal in the 12th minute. Keegan Reim assisted the goal. WNE led 2-0.
• 17:19 – Tyler Lewis netted a second goal off an assist from Keegan Reim. WNE led 3-0.
• 48:47 – Tyler Lewis netted the third goal of the hat trick in the 49th minute. The goal was unassisted and gave WNE a 4-0 lead.
• 72:05 – Matt Spruill scored the fifth WNE goal after a Jacob Dounetos assist. WNE led 5-0.
• 86:45 – Brennan Johnson received a pass from Matty Leonard and scored the Golden Bears' sixth goal. WNE led 6-0.
• Franco Barreto Santana made 13 saves.
• Roger Leland and Cooper Kropveld combined to earn the Golden Bears a shutout victory, with Leland making two saves.
• The Golden Bears beat the Bison 6-0.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will move on to the CNE postseason tournament, where they will host Gordon College on Saturday, November 2, 2024. The time of that contest is to be announced.
• The Bison's season concludes with an overall record of 4-11-2 and a conference record of 1-6-2.