WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 14, 2025) – The Western New England men's ice hockey team dropped a Conference of New England game on Friday afternoon to the visiting Nor'easters of the University of New England, who rank eighth overall in Division III heading into today's contest. WNE would score the first two goals in the first 3:25 of the contest but would surrender following, dropping a 10-2 game.
Records:
- Western New England: 5-16-2, 1-13-2 CNE
- No. 8 University of New England: 17-5-1, 13-3-0 CNE
How it Happened:
Western New England would get off to a quick start against the eighth-ranked team in the latest USCHO rankings, coming away with the first goal of the game just 53 seconds into the opening period, starting the game just as hoped. After a shot block from
Jimmy Mettler, the Golden Bears would move up the ice, dumping the puck into the corner, seeing
Nolan Dawson chase after the loose puck. UNE would gain possession for just a moment before a turnover, leading to a Dawson pass to
Brayden Patricia, who rifled home his third goal of the season for Western New England, giving the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead. The Golden Bears were not done there, shocking UNE with another goal less than two and a half minutes later as
Matty Zdanowicz fired his sixth of the season into the back of the net on assists from Patricia and Dawson, which quickly gave Western New England a 2-0 lead. UNE would need just four minutes to cut WNE's lead in half as Dylan Schuett would pick up his first of the season. The goal from Schuett would start a rout for the Nor'easters as a dominant rest of the way would go in favor of the road team. The Nor'easters would even the scoring at two with 1:03 to play in the first period when UNE's leading scorer Ryan Kuzmich picked up his 19th of the season, getting a shot past WNE's starting goalkeeper
Logan Palmer, evening the score. The score would remain tied at two after one period of play with UNE outshooting the Golden Bears 13-6.
It would take just 24 seconds for UNE to score in the second period as Dominic Murphy potted his 14th goal of the season, which ended up being the game-winning goal in the contest for the Nor'easters, who did not back down from there, dominating Western New England from there. UNE added a fourth and fifth tally in the frame while the Golden Bears would put together another six shots on goal in the period; this time, all handled by UNE's Stefan Carney.
The Nor'easters would break the game wide open in the third and final period of the game, scoring five times overall in the frame to come out with a 10-2 victory over the Golden Bears. Three from UNE scored twice in the game, including Nick Marino, Dylan Schuett, and Dominic Murphy. Multiple Nor'easters came away with multi-point efforts in the game, including Will Spitzer, Brayden Cook, Tyler Healey, Anthony Sciucco, Drew Olivieri, Ryan Kuzmich, Cam Bergman, and the three two-goal scorers on the afternoon.
Nolan Dawson had a pair of assists for Western New England in the opening three and a half minutes of the game while
Brayden Patricia picked up a goal and an assist.
Logan Palmer made 37 saves for Western New England in the losing effort.
Up Next on the Schedule:
· WNE will hit the road for the final two games of the regular season, making stops at Suffolk University on Saturday, February 15, at 4:40 PM and Endicott College on Friday, February 21, at 5:00 PM to wrap up the season.
