Springfield, Mass. (March 27, 2024) – The Golden Bears welcomed the Endicott College Gulls to campus for a rematch of last year's CCC Championship game that the Golden Bears won 18-9 in Beverly, Massachusetts. The Golden Bears got out to a quick start and were up 6-2 with 10:36 remaining in the second quarter. The Gulls would then go on a 7-0 run that would go into the third quarter to go up 9-6. The Golden Bears would show some fight with a 4-1 run of their own. However, after the team tied the game at ten, the Gulls would outscore them 5-2 to win 15-12. Dylan Hanley led WNE in points, with six, and Carter Randall made 17 saves in the loss.

Records:

Western New England: 3-5 (0-1)

Endicott College: 7-1 (1-0)

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears and goalie Carter Randall played host to their first conference game of the season against the Gulls and goalie Tim Luciano. The goalies put on a show early. Randall made the first save. Then, right after a Golden Bear man-up opportunity, Luciano made a save. Both goalies would have another save before the first goal of the game. 5:48 into the game, James Wrynn found Jack Houlden, who netted the opening goal. The Golden Bears led 1-0. A few minutes later, James Wrynn found Griffin LaRochelle for the second Golden Bear goal. The goalies and defense went back to work, keeping the opposing offenses scoreless for the rest of the first quarter. Randall made four more saves to keep the Gulls off the scoreboard in the first quarter. Luciano made another save in the first quarter. After one quarter, the Golden Bears led 2-0. After one, shots were in favor of the Gulls, 9-8. Ground balls and faceoffs were in favor of the Gulls, as well, 6-5 and 2-1, respectively. The Golden Bears went 4-for-6 in clear attempts, and the Gulls were 4-for-4. The Golden Bears led 6-3 in saves. 

The second quarter saw a much different game played than the first quarter. There were eleven goals scored during the quarter. It started 1:25 into the quarter, when Colt Green took a shot and found the inside of the netting to cut the deficit in half. The Golden Bears answered that with three goals in a row. David Noel scored an unassisted goal twelve seconds after the Endicott College goal. TJ Dalicandro followed that up ten seconds later with a goal, assisted by Dylan Hanley. A little over a minute and a half later, Dylan Hanley found Jack Houlden, and the score was 5-1 after the goal from Houlden. Thirteen seconds later, Nick Graap answered for the Gulls with a goal, assisted by Thomas Barker. It took forty-six seconds for Dylan Hanley to regain the four-goal lead for the Golden Bears. Hanley scored off an assist from Brian Madden. With 9:20 left in the second, the Gulls would start their five-goal run to finish the second quarter. Matt Cawley scored the first goal, assisted by Cam Fernandez. Then, after a WNE penalty was called, Nick Graap capitalized on the man-up opportunity. Nick Pagluiso found Graap for the goal.

Twenty-four seconds later, Pagluiso notched a goal to shrink the Golden Bear lead to 6-5. After a couple of turnovers from both teams and a save from Carter Randall, Guerin Favreau tied the game at six with a goal. A couple of turnovers and a WNE penalty followed that. Endicott College could not capitalize. However, they would get multiple shots off, and Randall would make another save after the penalty time expired. With twenty-eight seconds left in the quarter, the Gulls took their first lead of the game. Cam Fernandez found the back of the net with an unassisted goal. Soon after, the first half ended, and the Gulls had a 7-6 lead. At halftime, shots were 27-14 in favor of the Gulls. The Gulls also led in ground balls 17-16. The Golden Bears had more faceoff wins, 9-6, and more saves, 10-4. The Golden Bears were 7-for-10 in clear attempts, and the Gulls were 9-for-11. 

After halftime, Guerin Favreau had the first goal for the Gulls to continue their scoring run. Almost two minutes later, Cam Fernandez pushed the lead to 9-6, Gulls. Jack Houlden answered with a goal, assisted by Nicholas Campagnone. The Golden Bears would have an opportunity saved by Luciano. Then, the Gulls would score to put them into double-digit goals. Nick Graap got the ball from Tommy Tyksinski and scored. A couple of penalties were called on the Gulls. However, the Golden Bears could not capitalize on the two-man-up or single-man-up opportunity. However, right after the Endicott College player got back in the play, Jacob Roy scored. That was followed by Jack Houlden receiving a pass from Gregory Perry and scoring. Then, Dylan Hanley found James Wrynn for the goal. The score was tied at ten. With twenty-four seconds left in the quarter, Nick Pagluiso netted a third goal to give the Gulls the one-goal lead after three quarters of play. The stat line showed the Gulls outshoot the Golden Bears 11-8 during the third. They also had more ground balls and faceoff wins, 8-6 and 5-4, respectively. Both goalies made three saves. The Golden Bears were 3-for-5 in clear attempts, and the Gulls were 4-for-4 again.

The final quarter saw the Gulls extend their lead to 13-10 with a goal by Nick Pagluiso, assisted by Nick Graap, and then a goal from Thomas Barker. Griffin LaRochelle found the back of the goal with a shot 3:14 into the fourth. Hanley was credited with the assist. Manny Marshall would answer with a goal 4:27 into the fourth. Tommy Tyksinski would score another goal on top of that one to push the lead to four. The Golden Bears were not able to find another goal until 3:11 left in the game. Dylan Hanley scored on an assist from Michael Knapp. The Golden Bears would fail to score any more goals. The Golden Bears were called for a penalty with fifty-six seconds left. The Gulls would run out the clock and would get the win, 15-12. The final stat line showed Endicott College lead in shots 49-30 and ground balls 38-30. The Golden Bears had more saves 17-10 and more faceoff wins 16-15. The Gulls went 18-for-20 in clear attempts. The Golden Bears were 13-for-20. 

Inside The Crease:

• The Golden Bears hosted the Gulls of Endicott College in their first conference game of the season.
• Dylan Hanley led the Golden Bears in points with six (two goals and four assists).
• Jack Houlden led the Golden Bears in goals with four.
• Nick Graap and Nick Pagluiso both led the Gulls with four points each.
• Carter Randall made 17 saves for the Golden Bears.
• Tim Luciano made ten saves in the win for the Gulls.
• The Gulls beat the Golden Bears 15-12.

Up Next:

• The Golden Bears will travel to the Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday, March 30, 2024, for a CCC clash with the Leopards. The game will be at 3:00 PM.
• The Gulls will host the Nichols College Bison in their next game. That game will be on Saturday, March 30, 2024, at noon.