SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 10, 2025) – Western New England women's basketball senior Perry Blasetti, WNE Football sophomore Paul Gorry, and WNE women's ice hockey sophomore Rachael Irving have been named this week's Golden Bear Athletes of the Week, following outstanding performances in their sports to help collect wins on the week. 

Perry Blasetti started and led the Golden Bears to a 67-55 victory on opening night over Springfield College, scoring a team-high 19 points. Blasetti shot 8/15 from the field, cashing in on three of five triples, had six rebounds, four steals, two assists, and a block over 34 minutes played. The Hingham, Massachusetts, native had a career-high last Friday night with those 19 points, smashing her previous high of 11, coming last year at the University of Hartford. Blasetti and the Golden Bears continue their home schedule tonight, welcoming Rhode Island College to the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center at 7:00 PM. 

Paul Gorry was near perfect on the field at the quarterback position for the Golden Bears in their week nine victory at Maine Maritime, a resounding 70-7 victory. Gorry tossed just two incompletions, completing a season-high 21 completions on 23 attempts, throwing successfully at an over 91% clip, tossing for 257 yards and four touchdowns, both season- bests. The near-flawless game for the WNE sophomore puts Gorry over 1,000 yards of passing on the year, while the Wallingford, Connecticut, native has thrown 12 touchdowns overall this season. Gorry and the Western New England football team wrap up the 2025-26 season this coming Saturday, November 15, at 1:00 PM, hosting Nichols College at Golden Bear Stadium. 

Rachael Irving helped lead the Western New England women's ice hockey team to a pair of Conference of New England wins this past weekend over the University of New England, allowing just one goal in each game. Irving opened the weekend with 24 saves on 25 shots faced, allowing the Nor'easters little room to find the back of the net on their home ice, as the Golden Bears picked up a 4-1 win in their first game of conference play in 2025-26. Irving started the second night of a back-to-back with UNE and excelled again, allowing just one goal on 28 total shots on goal, making 27 saves including a handful of saves in the final minutes of the game with UNE pressing for a game-tying goal, giving the Golden Bears a 2-1 win, starting off conference play with two wins and keeping WNE undefeated on the season thus far, a perfect 4-0. Irving and the Golden Bears will have another CNE test this coming weekend, splitting a home-and-home with Endicott College, which ranks ninth in the most recent USCHO Poll. A home game begins on Friday, November 14 at 8:10 PM, while WNE travels for a road game the next evening at 4:40 PM.