SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 3, 2025) – The Western New England football team will host its first Conference of New England game of the season on Saturday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium against the Eagles of Husson University. The matchup is part of WNE's annual Golden Bear Weekend, which welcomes back alumni, parents, and supporters. 

Last Time Out:
The Golden Bears are starting Conference of New England play with a 0-1 record following last week's 37-31 loss on the road at the University of New England, where the Nor'easters picked up 13 first-quarter points and suppressed the late comeback from the Golden Bears' offense to come away with their first-ever win over the blue and gold in seven meetings. The Nor'easters were able to come up with a touchdown on their first drive of the game to open the scoring on a seven-play, 69-yard drive to go ahead 7-0 over WNE. The Nor'easters then used their special teams on their next six points of the afternoon to cap off the scoring in the opening 15 minutes of the game, returning a 43-yard punt for a score to lead Western New England 13-0 after one quarter of play. The Golden Bears produced over 100 yards of offense in the quarter but did not come away with any points. Western New England had the only ten points in the second quarter as the defense stepped up, while a rushing touchdown to begin play in the second quarter and a field goal to close out the frame, trailing just 13-10 at the break. 

The beginning of the second half favored Western New England as the Golden Bears opened on offense and scored on a five-play, 64-yard series that ended in a 27-yard touchdown from Kellan Cornell to De'Andre Harris, giving WNE their first lead of the afternoon, 17-13. It took UNE less than two minutes to respond with a score as the Nor'easters tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead, 20-17. Following the UNE touchdown, the Nor'easters forced a punt from the Golden Bears on a quick three-and-out while the next offensive drive for the home team lasted just under three minutes, which saw UNE drive down the field in 11 plays for 80 yards, scoring another touchdown through the air to take a 27-17 lead.  Western New England responded in a back-and-forth third quarter to drop UNE's lead down to three, 27-24, but just 14 seconds later, a 95-yard kickoff return for the Nor'easters brought their lead back to ten, ending the third quarter with a 34-24 lead with the two teams combining for 35 points and more than 300 yards of offense in the quarter.

The final quarter saw the Nor'easters score first on a 20-yard field goal, reclaiming their 13-point lead from the end of the first quarter, which was their largest lead all afternoon. A 14-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 left brought the Golden Bears back within six. The WNE defense forced a UNE punt to get the ball back one last time but with 27 seconds on the clock, the time expired before the Golden Bears were able to make a drive down the field, sending the Nor'easters to a 37-31 victory over WNE for their first-ever win in seven meetings against the Golden Bears. 

Husson University comes into Springfield with a 1-3 record to begin play and also fell their last time out, dropping a 48-14 decision to Endicott College on home field. The Eagles, like the Golden Bears, were shut out in the opening quarter of their game as Endicott rushed home a touchdown and converted a two-point conversion on their second offensive drive of the game, followed by a 52-yard touchdown pass, as the Gulls took the early lead and never relinquished it. Husson came back for their first, and only, seven points of the half on a 24-yard pass to cut Endicott's lead in half, trailing now 14-7 with still over 12 minutes to play in the quarter. Endicott roared back with 21 unanswered points in the quarter to take a commanding 35-7 lead at the break as the Gulls returned a punt for a touchdown and threw two passes through the air to score touchdowns, taking a 35-7 lead after the first 30 minutes of play. 

Endicott continued its scoring in the third quarter while holding the Eagles to another zero on the scoreboard in the frame. The Gulls put the game completely out of reach on Husson's home field with a pair of rushing touchdowns to take a 48-7 lead. Endicott reached over 400 yards of offense in the game while the Gulls' defense held the Eagles to just 59 pass yards and 188 total yards in the contest. A touchdown in the early stages of the fourth quarter was not enough to rally the Eagles, who dropped a 48-14 contest in their CNE opener, falling to 0-2 on the season on home soil. 

Offensive Threats (WNE):
The Golden Bears completed 18 passes last Saturday afternoon, two-thirds of which came from Drew Caouette, who tossed 12 completions for 111 yards a threw his first career touchdown for the Golden Bears in the loss. Kelan Cornell completed six passes on 16 attempts, throwing for 140 yards and a touchdown while also throwing two interceptions. Both Caouette's and Cornell's top target was De'Andre Harris, who caught six passes for 113 yards and scored a touchdown. Harris became the fifth Golden Bear to surpass 2,000 career reception yards in a career in Saturday's contest. Jova'n Hill caught three passes for 51 yards, another top receiver for the Golden Bears. 

The run game attempted 57 rushes for the Golden Bears against the Nor'easters, led by Cornell, who took the ball 18 times for 97 yards and scored one rushing touchdown. Matt LaMontagne carried the rock 23 times for 94 net yards, scoring a touchdown, averaging just over four yards per carry. WNE produced 240 yards on the ground in total as Matthew McGuire pitched in with nine carries for 40 yards. 

Offensive Threats (Husson):
The Eagles opened the season with 40 points in a 40-13 win over Framingham State University, but have since not been able to have that sort of success on offense, totaling just 33 points through their next three games. Husson QB Max Clark, who threw for over 2,000 yards and 26 touchdowns last season, including 319 yards and five touchdowns on Western New England, came up with his worst passing percentage of his career last time out against Endicott, completing just ten passes for 59 yards, throwing two touchdowns. Clark threw 27 total passes, completing 37% of those. The run game produced 129 net yards for Husson, led by
Elijah Garnett, who ran for 72 yards. Jed Lober, who typically leads Husson in rush yards, ran ten times for 35 yards in the loss last week. Lober rushed for two touchdowns last season against the Golden Bears.
Through the air, Husson relied on Cam Holmes for both their touchdowns last week against Endicott, picking up four catches for 57 yards. Holmes now has 15 catches for 240 yards and five touchdowns on the season. Jed Lober caught three passes, but was backed up for -3 yards in the loss. Endicott held Husson's Jacob Lenz to no catches last week, the Eagles' leading receiver in terms of catches this season, picking up 22 catches on the year for 220 yards. Marl Montgomery has notched 12 catches for 177 yards and one touchdown on the year. 

Lockdown Defenders (WNE): 
Johnny Ferrentino has come onto the scene over the first four games this season for Western New England and has become one of the best defenders overall. Ferrentino recorded a career-high 14 tackles last weekend at the University of New England, two solo tackles and 12 assisted tackles. Ferrentino now has 29 total tackles for the Golden Bears this season while also producing two interceptions. Nick Kolifrath was also in double-digits in tackles last week for Western New England, registering eight solo tackles and four assisted tackles, good for 12 in the game. Kolifrath also recorded his first sack of the season for a loss of nine yards.

The WNE junior leads the team with 31 tackles on the season, 11 solo and 20 assisted. Kolifrath has 2.5 tackles for loss on the season, for a loss of 11 yards. All of Austin Pszczolkowski (24), Michael Canavatchel (21), and Nathaniel Mathis (20) have made major impacts on the Western New England defense this season. 

WNE has recorded eight interceptions through four games this season, led by Ferrentino, who has a pair. Kolifrath, Ryan Clark, Ben Caufield, Brayden Bunnell, Will Feliz, and Brian Lawrence all have recorded one each. 

Lockdown Defenders (Husson):
Malcolm McKinnon led Husson a week ago with nine total tackles, three solo, and six assisted. McKinnon is fourth on the team with 26 total tackles on the season. Husson has been led by JT Wright this season, who has earned 14 solo tackles and 29 assisted tackles to lead the Eagles in both of those categories. Wright also has three tackles for loss and a half of a sack this season for a two-yard loss. 

Husson's Ryan Banister has registered 13 solo tackles and 18 assisted tackles, second on the team in both of those categories, for 31 total tackles. The senior from West Gardiner, Maine, leads the team with 4.5 tackles for loss. The Eagles have got to their opposing quarterback five total times on the year, led by James Boyd, who has two total sacks on the season and 2.5 tackles for loss for a total loss of 19 yards. 

Special Team Leaders (WNE):
WNE's Max LoGrasso made his lone field goal attempt at UNE last week, a 28-yard attempt. The Lynn, Massachusetts native is now six-for-six in field goal attempts this season, four-for-four from 20-29 yards out, and one-for-one from both 30-39 yards out and 40-49 yards out. LoGrasso was also perfect in point after attempts last week, going 14/15 on attempts for the year. 

John Moss punted four times for the Golden Bears last week, averaging 33 yards per punt and recording a season-high 42-yard boot. The WNE sophomore forced three fair catches against the Nor'easters. 
Christian Delgado returned two kickoffs for 55 yards and two punts for 29 yards against the Nor'easters. 

Special Team Leaders (Husson): 
The Eagles did not attempt a field goal last week against the Gulls, but Garrett Martin did make both PATs for the Eagles. Martin and Husson have yet to attempt a field goal this season, while Martin is 7/8 in extra point kicks.  
Both Danny Scarlotta Jr. and Parker Hunter have split punting duties for the Eagles this season. Scarlotta has punted 13 times, totaling 412 yards, averaging just under 32 yards per kick. The Husson sophomore has kicked two punts inside the 20-yard line. Hunter has punted six times for 209 yards, averaging 35 yards per punt, collecting three fair catches and one punt inside the 20-yard line. 

Returners for Husson include Jacob Lenz, who averages just under ten-yards per punt return. Lenz also has four kick off returns for 83 yards, averaging 20 yards per return. Marl Montgomery has taken 12 kickoffs for 287 yards this season, averaging 24 yards per kick.

The Matchup:
Husson has taken two of the last three matchups over the Golden Bears in the series. Western New England's last win over the Eagles came at Golden Bear Stadium in 2023, also on Golden Bear Weekend, where a late score with 1:05 remaining sealed the victory for the home team on a wet afternoon. WNE is a perfect 5-0 all-time on home turf against Husson. Saturday afternoon's matchup is the earliest the two teams have met in a season since 2018.

2025 Schedule (WNE):
9/6         vs. No. 13 Springfield College..........W, 23-22
9/13       at  Salve Regina University.................. L, 34-28 (OT)
9/20       vs. Worcester State University..........W, 48-13
9/27       at  University of New England*............L, 37-31
10/4       vs. Husson University* .....................1:00 PM
10/18     at  Endicott College* ...........................5:00 PM
10/25     at  Curry College*.................................12:00 PM
11/1       vs. New England College*..................1:00 PM
11/8       at  Maine Maritime Academy*...............12:00 PM
11/15     vs. Nichols College* ...........................1:00 PM

*Conference of New England Game 
Home Games Noted in BOLD
 
2025 Schedule (Husson University):
9/6         at Framingham State University……….....W, 40-13
9/13       at No. 25 Springfield College………….…...…L, 38-6
9/20       vs. WPI……………..………………………...........L, 15-13 
9/27       vs. Endicott College*…………………….......L, 48-14
10/4       at  Western New England*………………………..1:00 PM
10/18     vs. New England College*…………….......…12:00 PM
10/25     at  University of New England*………………….1:00 PM
11/1       vs. Curry College*………………............…….12:00 PM
11/8       at  Nichols College*……………………...............12:00 PM
11/15     vs. Maine Maritime Academy*………………..1:00 PM
*Conference of New England Game 
Home Games Noted in BOLD

Watch and Follow:
Western New England University will host Golden Bear Weekend this weekend, with heavy traffic anticipated on campus. The Golden Bears men's and women's soccer teams will also be in action, beginning at 12:00 PM. WNEU encourages spectators to plan travel accordingly. 

To watch Saturday's game, click here. 

To follow the live statistics, click here. 

For information regarding tickets for football, click here.