SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 28, 2025) – The Western New England men's lacrosse team unveiled its 17-game regular season slate on Tuesday afternoon. The slate will begin on Saturday, February 15, with nine road contests, seven home games, and one neutral site game. 

Head Coach John Klepacki will lead the Golden Bears for his 24th season, in which he has compiled a 291-128 record in blue and gold. 

Western New England men's lacrosse will open their schedule with the aforementioned neutral site game at Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich, Connecticut against St. Lawrence University. The Golden Bears and Saints will meet for the third consecutive season, with the top-ranked Saints taking those three meetings by slim margins. The season opener against SLU will begin on Saturday, February 15, at 1:00 PM. Western New England's first three games of the season will be away from Golden Bear Stadium, as their first true road game will come at Keene State College on Tuesday, February 18, at 4:00 PM. A staple in Western New England's schedule, the Golden Bears and Owls will meet for the third straight season and tenth time in the last 11 seasons. WNE has the upper hand in the all-time meeting with the Owls, winners in their previous six games, including last season's home game win, 19-11. The final road contest to open the season for Western New England will come under the light of Roberts Field at Massachusetts Institute of Technology when the Golden Bears take on MIT on Friday, February 28, at 6:00 PM. The Golden Bears churned out a 16-8 victory on home turf last season over the Engineers. 

The Golden Bears will open their home schedule for a rare Sunday matchup, hosting Bowdoin College on March 2 at 4:00 PM. Bowdoin and the Golden Bears have seen each other for the last three seasons, with the Polar Bears picking up the three victories. From there, the Golden Bears will remain on home field on Saturday, March 8, at 1:00 PM, welcoming Babson College to Golden Bear Stadium. This will be the third straight meeting for the Beavers and Golden Bears, with both results from the previous two seasons holding close. 

WNE will then hit the road for three straight games, including two during spring break in which the Golden Bears will stay somewhat local, traveling to southwestern Pennsylvania to take on Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, March 12 at 1:00 PM before trekking to north central New York to meet Nazareth University on Sunday, March 16 at noon. The meeting with Widener University will be the first for Western New England all-time, while the Golden Bears and Golden Flyers will meet for the fourth straight season. The Golden Bears have had much success playing on the road at Nazareth over their last five games, going a perfect 5-0. Western New England will then face the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday, March 22, at 3:00 PM, their final tune-up game before conference play opens. 

Conference of New England lacrosse will start on Wednesday, March 26, at 7:00 PM at Golden Bear Stadium when WNE men's lacrosse takes on Gordon College. The Golden Bears have never lost to Gordon in their series matchup, going a perfect 18-0 all-time. The University of New England will be up next for Western New England in conference play as the Golden Bears travel to Blue Bolt Field on Saturday, March 29, at 4:00 PM. The Golden Bears have also had the advantage over the Nor'easters in their all-time season series, going a perfect 20-0. From there, Western New England will host their final non-conference game of the season as the crosstown rivals of Springfield College visit Golden Bear Stadium on Tuesday, April 1, at 7:00 PM. The two teams have split the last two meetings, with WNE last winning at home in 2023 in a thrilling triple-overtime game. 

Conference play will lead the way for the rest of the regular season for the Golden Bears. After a rivalry game in non-conference action, Western New England will then take on their conference rivals, Endicott College, on Saturday, April 5, at 4:00 PM. Western New England will look to get their revenge on their exit in the conference championship game at the hands of the Gulls last season when the two teams meet this season. The last 10 conference championship games have featured the two teams, while the Golden Bears have been part of the previous 13 conference title games overall. Conference of New England play continues from Golden Bear Stadium on Wednesday, April 9, at 7:00 PM as Wentworth Institute of Technology visits Springfield. The Golden Bears also have never lost to the Leopards in their 17 meetings, going a perfect 17-0. WNE will make their way to Roger Williams University in their next matchup, meeting the Hawks for the 24th all-time meeting on Saturday, April 12, at 3:00 PM on the road. Western New England does not have a loss to RWU in their series matchups and ousted Roger Williams from the conference playoffs a season ago in the semifinal round. 

Two of the final three conference games will be home games for the blue and gold, both coming on a weekday. Western New England will be home on Tuesday, April 15, at 7:00 PM, for their final regular season game under the lights of Golden Bear Stadium, taking on Curry College. Western New England has defeated Curry in all 18 of their matchups all-time, with last year's 12-8 final score being the closest game. WNE will be on the road for their final conference road contest of the regular season on Saturday, April 19, at noon when they take on the newest member of the conference, the University of Hartford. In their first-ever meeting a season ago, Western New England took down the Hawks 15-7. The final regular season game for the Golden Bears comes on Wednesday, April 23, at 4:00 PM, when Nichols College enters Golden Bear Stadium looking to pull off an upset. Nichols has never defeated Western New England in their 19 tries, as WNE had taken down the Bison by a combined score of 50-16 over their last three games.

The opening round of the Conference of New England tournament will begin on Saturday, April 26, with the semifinals slated for Wednesday, April 30, and the championship game on Saturday, May 3. To view the full WNE men's lacrosse 2025 schedule, click here.