Skip To Main Content

Western New England University

The Official Home of Western New England University Athletics
FB 9.14.24
27
Salve Regina SRU 1-1 , 0-0
45
Winner Western New Eng. WNE 1-1 , 0-0
Salve Regina SRU
1-1 , 0-0
27
Final
45
Western New Eng. WNE
1-1 , 0-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
SRU Salve Regina 13 0 7 7 27
WNE Western New Eng. 0 9 15 21 45

Game Recap: Football |

Defense Provides Four Interceptions, Carlson, LaMontagne, Black Rush For Over 280 Yards, WNE Football Completes Second Half Comeback in 45-27 Home Opening Win over Salve Regina

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 14, 2024) – The Western New England football team saw an early deficit for the second straight week but turned their offense around in the second half as Ryan Carlson, Matt LaMontagne, and Jason Black would spark the run game while four interceptions, one each for Thomas Gasbarro, Nick Kolifrath, Jason Shumilla, and DJ Gordon on defense, would erase an early 13-0 deficit and send the Golden Bears to a 45-27 victory over the Seahawks of Salve Regina University.

Records:
  • Western New England: 1-1
  • Salve Regina University: 1-1
How it Happened:

The Golden Bears would open the game on offense, though would quickly succumb to the defense as the Seahawks would push WNE off the field in just three quick plays, gaining -1 yards. The Seahawks would open the game with a three-play 66-yard drive that led to the first score of the game when Salve's Padraig Brown tossed a 60-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Smith, giving the Seahawks a 6-0 lead. The Golden Bears would be off the field quickly again on their second offensive drive of the game while the visitors would again march down the field and would cap off a seven-play, 65-yard drive with their second touchdown of the game when Brown found Kyle Crampton in the end zone for a 29-yard pass completion, giving SRU a 12-0 lead. The extra point would go through this time, extending Salve's lead to 13-0 with 1:30 to play in the first quarter. Western New England would record just one first down in the opening 15 minutes of play while collecting just 22 yards of offense. Salve threw for 143 yards in the opening quarter, taking the 13-0 lead.

After the Golden Bears would force Salve Regina off the field on offense in their first drive of the second quarter, the offense for the Golden Bears would look like they were coming alive after Matt LaMontagne would rush for ten yards to begin to move the chains. The Golden Bears would be stuffed on an incomplete pass on third down, forcing John Moss to punt the ball away. WNE would collect their first of four interceptions on the next play as DJ Gordon would grab his first career pick for Western New England, allowing WNE to start on the Salve Regina 10-yard line, needing just ten yards to get into the end zone. LaMontagne rushed for eight yards to start the drive, though the next three plays would all not go in WNE's favor, leaving the ball on the two-yard line on a turnover on downs. Salve Regina would get lost on offense on their first play from the two, allowing Tyler Reinke and Michael Dogostino to wrap up Salve's Justan Luzzi in the end zone, recording a safety for the Golden Bears to put Western New England on the scoreboard, a 13-2 Salve lead.

On the ensuing drive, Western New England would see sparks of life, as Pat Harrigan would pull down a nine-yard reception to go along with a 16-yard catch just five plays later. Jason Black and Ryan Carlson would get their legs churning, getting WNE down to the ten-yard line with two minutes remaining in the half. On the next play, coming out of the two-minute warning, QB Brady Lafferty would find Callaghan Daskam for the ten-yard touchdown pass, putting WNE right back into the contest. After Chris Digiacomo's extra point, WNE trailed by just four, 13-9 at the half. The Golden Bears picked up seven first downs in the frame while running for 38 yards and throwing for 35. The Gordon interception was the lone turnover in the quarter.

The Seahawks would respond with a touchdown to open the third quarter on a five-play, 48-yard drive. Salve's QB Padraig Brown would finish the job in the end zone on a two-yard run, putting Salve Regina ahead 20-9. From there, Western New England would respond and look to their run game to tally up points. WNE's Ryan Carlson would explode out of the gate on the next drive, running for 62 yards, capping off the five-play, 86-yard drive with a rushing touchdown from 29-yards out, decreasing Salve's lead to just five points, 20-15. Just three plays into the next drive, Western New England's Jason Shumilla would intercept Salve's Brown, and run the ball all the way back, 37-yards out, and into the end zone, putting the Golden Bears ahead for the first time in the game, 21-20. Salve Regina would look to respond with a 35-yard field goal on their next drive, though the Seahawks would fail to convert, handing the football over the WNE at the WNE 20-yard line. The Golden Bears would put together their longest drive of the afternoon and would capitalize it with a field goal of their own, An 11-play, 75-yard drive would be capped off by the first field goal make of Digiacomo'scareer, a 22-yard attempt, that put Western New England ahead 24-20. The score would stand after three quarters of play as WNE recorded 129 yards of rushing in the frame.

Western New England would need just two minutes to start the fourth quarter to find the back of the end zone again as Matt LaMontagne ran away with the ball, sprinting 58-yards down the field for his first touchdown of the season, putting the Golden Bears ahead 31-20. Western New England would get back-to-back offensive possessions as the kickoff return would result in a fumble, forced by Nick Kolifrath and recovered by Henry Rodrigues, putting Western New England back in control. On the ensuing drive, reigning Conference of New England Offensive Rookie of the Week Jason Black would be the next Golden Bear running to find six points on the board, running up the middle for an 11-yard touchdown, giving Western New England 14 points in just over three minutes of game time, leading 38-20. LaMontagne would run for 21 yards on the drive, while Black would cap off the drive with WNE's third rushing touchdown of the afternoon.

Despite being down by 18 points, Salve Regina would not go away quietly, as with 8:11 left in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks would move down the field on a four-play, 48-yard drive in 1:18, collecting a 13-yard touchdown pass, dropping WNE's lead to 38-27. Both teams would struggle to score from there on their next offensive drives, respectively, as Salve's last stich effort would result in a 12-play drive, getting the ball all the way down to the WNE 13-yard line, though Kadeem Walker would break up a potential touchdown catch for Salve's Kyle Crampton on fourth down, ending the hope for the Seahawks. Western New England would fly down the field one final time in the game when Brady Lafferty found De'Andre Harris for an 85-yard touchdown reception, giving the Golden Bears a 45-27 lead, a lead WNE held onto for the final two minutes of the game, resulting in an 18-point victory for the hosts, their first win of the 2024 season.

Inside the Numbers:
  • Offensively, Western New England saw Ryan Carlson, Matt LaMontagne, and Jason Black lead the way for the Golden Bears through the run game. Carlson came away with 16 rushing attempts for 121 net yards, scoring one TD. LaMontagne ran the ball nine times for 95 yards, scoring his first TD of the season. Black picked up 15 carries for 65 yards, going into the end zone for the third time this season.
  • Through the air, Western New England's Brady Lafferty collected 13 completions on 21 attempts, tossing for 173 yards and two touchdowns.
  • After his late game touchdown, senior De'Andre Harris led the Golden Bears with four catches for 109 yards and a TD.
  • On defense, the Golden Bears got timely stops and four massive interceptions to swing the way of the game in the home teams' favor. Tyler Reinke picked up two solo tackles to go along with seven assisted tackles, good for nine on the afternoon, a team high. Michael Canavatchel picked up eight total tackles for WNE to help.
  • Joe McNamara picked up the lone sack in the game for the Golden Bears, a 12-yard loss. The graduate student also picked up three tackles, 2.5 for loss.
  • Thomas Gasbarro, DJ Gordon, Nick Kolifrath, and Jason Shumilla came up with interceptions for the Golden Bears in the win, while Kolifrath also forced one fumble.
  • John Moss punted five times for WNE, averaging 36 yards per punt, punting once inside the 20-yard line.
Coaches Corner:
  • When asked about the impact of the Western New England defense, especially holding Salve Regina to just 13 first-half points, Head Coach Jason Lebeau said, "Defense came up big in multiple ways today. Since day one, we have been stressing the importance of taking away the football, and that focus showed out today. Winning the turnover battle, 5-0, was a big reason we won today. Even when we struggled on offense, we took care of the football, which is huge. "
  • After 280 yards of offense on the run, Lebeau said, "We have a bunch of talented running backs in the program who can break out at any moment. Ryan (Carlson) is the veteran, the leader, and he might have had his best game as a GBear today. Matt and Jason will keep getting better every week. We need all three to be successful this season."
Up Next on the Schedule:
  • The Golden Bears will head to St. Lawrence University for another Friday night game. WNE will tackle the Saints on Friday, September 20 at 7:00 PM. SLU is 1-1 on the season, falling to No. 18 Endicott College in their season opener last week while defeating Norwich University on the road last night.
Print Friendly Version