ROCHESTER, N.Y. (March 16, 2025) – The Golden Bears traveled to Nazareth University for a nonconference Sunday matinee. Max Rudgers would score the opening goal for the Golden Bears, but six Nazareth goals followed before WNE could get another goal. The score was 8-4 at the half, with Rudgers leading the offense with two goals. The Golden Bears would cut the deficit to one with three consecutive goals to start the second half. However, the Golden Flyers would run away with the contest late and won the game 19-9.

Records:

• Western New England: 2-5
• Nazareth University: 4-4

How it Happened:

Jonathan Salsbury and McLean Ralston would start the day in front of the goal for the Golden Bears and Golden Flyers, respectively. Nazareth would win the opening faceoff to get the game started. They had the first shot but also the first turnover. The Golden Bears answered with a couple of shots on their first possession and saw a Zachary Mein shot glance off the post. Nazareth would get the ball back before Jack Gara caused a turnover, and that would lead to a Max Rudgers goal, and WNE led 1-0 3:38 into the Sunday contest. Nazareth won the ensuing faceoff but could not score immediately. The teams would trade turnovers leading up to Nazareth getting called for a penalty. WNE could not capitalize on the 0:30-second man-up chance. Nazareth would score the next goal after a couple more possessions for both teams. Michael Bergan would find William O'Neill, who scored and tied the game 1-1 with 5:57 left in the first quarter of play. That would be the start of a run from the Golden Flyers. Nazareth won the next faceoff, leading to a Nazareth goal from Owen Riley forty seconds after their first goal. WNE would see Chris Catuosco win the ensuing faceoff, but Ralston would make a save when WNE had the next shot. Nazareth picked up the ground ball and went down the field. Louis Cogliandro would score, and Nazareth led 3-1 with 4:09 left in the first. Nazareth won the next faceoff, and the teams traded the ball back and forth before WNE had four shots in a row, with Ralston making two saves. The third shot went wide, and the fourth slammed off the post. However, WNE could not get the next goal in the first, and the first ended shortly after, with Nazareth leading 3-1. Nazareth led in shots 12-9 and saves, 5-2. WNE had more shots on goal 6-5. Nazareth led in faceoff wins at the quarter break 4-1. However, WNE led in caused turnovers 3-1. Lastly, Nazareth picked up more ground balls, 12-7.

Nazareth would keep its foot on the gas at the beginning of the second quarter. They won the faceoff and, after a Salsbury save, saw Andy Hamel score to give the Golden Flyers a 4-1 lead. They won the ensuing faceoff and scored another goal fifty seconds after that fourth goal. William Meagher found Louis Cagliandro, who netted the goal, and Nazareth led 5-1. After a Nazareth timeout, they had a couple of shots before WNE would get the ball for the first time during the second quarter, but they would have a turnover. After the ball was traded from team to team before Nazareth scored a sixth consecutive goal. Michael Bergan scored off an assist from Matthew Farrington. Chris Catuosco would try to stifle the Nazareth momentum with a won faceoff, ground ball pick-up, and a goal. WNE trailed 6-2 with 9:36 left in the half. Nazareth did not falter. They immediately won the following faceoff and scored eleven seconds later off a Luke Suchyna shot and goal. WNE was called for a penalty shortly after, and Nazareth would capitalize on their first man-up chance of the contest. Matthew Farrington scored off an assist from William Meagher to extend the Nazareth lead to 8-2 with 8:16 remaining in the first half. WNE would play tough defense and, after a Nazareth turnover, would cut the deficit to five with a Maz Rudgers goal, and WNE trailed 8-3 with 5:41 remaining in the half. The Golden Flyers had three shots in a row after that, with the first hitting the post, the second going wide, and the third seeing Jonathan Salsbury make a big save. After the clear, WNE called a timeout to set up a possible scoring play. That is exactly what would happen as Griffin LaRochelle would find Josh Gagnon for the goal, and WNE trailed 8-4 with 3:15 left in the first half. However, that was the final goal of the half for either team, with Ralston making a save on a WNE shot with four seconds left in the half. Second quarter stats swayed in favor of the Golden Flyers for the most part. They had more shots 14-4, shots on goal 7-4, faceoff wins 8-1, and ground balls 11-6. WNE had more caused turnovers 2-1 and saves 2-1.

The third saw WNE start with intensity. Griffin LaRochelle scored 38 seconds out of halftime to cut the Nazareth lead to 8-5. WNE could not capitalize on a 1:00 Nazareth penalty but would score the second goal of the half 2:54 into the second half. It was Griffin LaRochelle again. The score was 8-6. The teams traded possession before another Nazareth penalty. Once again, the Golden Bears could not convert. That led to shots being traded by the teams, with Ralston and Salsbury making saves and denying a score change. However, Jack Houlden would send a shot flying past the goalie and into the back of the net to close the deficit to one goal between the teams. Nicholas Campagnone would assist the goal, and the score was 8-7 with 7:19 left in the third. Nazareth responded half a minute later with a Kyler Rosenberge goal assisted by Quinn McKercher. Nazareth led 9-7. That lead was extended once again when Andy Hamel scored for the Golden Flyers with 5:21 left in the third. WNE trailed 10-7. The WNE comeback had awoken the Golden Flyers as they would score a third consecutive goal and make the game 11-7 with another Rosenberger goal, with Farrington getting the assist. They would add two more after that, with goals from Rosenberger and O'Neill. Matthew Farrington had the assist to Rosenberger, and George Monahan had the assist to O'Neill. Nazareth led 13-7 at the end of the third. The third quarter stats showed a similar picture, with Nazareth leading in shots 14-10, shots on goal 8-7, saves 4-3, and ground balls 13-11. WNE had more faceoff wins 5-4 and caused turnovers 3-2.

The Golden Bears would try to chip into the Nazareth lead early in the fourth with a Ryan Quinlan goal, which cut the deficit to five with 13:46 remaining in the game. However, the Golden Flyers would answer with a William O'Neill goal assisted by Brendan Regan with 11:11 left in the contest. Zachary Mein would get the deficit back to five with a goal a little over two minutes later, but that was quickly canceled out by a Quinn McKercher 44 seconds later. Then Louis Cogliandro would put an emphasis on the score with a goal 51 seconds later. Nazareth led 16-9 with 7:24 left in the game. Nazareth would keep extending their lead as Brendan Regan netted another goal to make the score 17-9 with 6:57 left in the fourth and final quarter. After possession was flipped a few more times, the Golden Flyers would score the game's final two goals with under two and a half minutes left. Louis Cogliandro scored another goal, and Kyle Rosenberger scored off an assist from George Monahan. The game would conclude shortly after with one more WNE extra-man chance happening during that time, but they could not get one last goal. Nazareth won the competition by a score of 19-9. Nazareth led in total shots 52-29, shots on goal 30-22, ground balls 50-30, saves 13-11, and faceoff wins 24-8. Both teams had eight caused turnovers.

Inside the Lines:

• Griffin LaRochelle and Max Rudgers led the Golden Bear offense with two goals each.
• Louis Cogliandro led the Golden Flyers with five goals. Kyle Rosenberger and William O'Neill each had a hat trick of goals.
• Jakob Denkenberger led the Golden Flyers with 13 ground balls picked up.
• Chris Catuosco led the Golden Bears with five ground balls.
• Michael Knapp would lead WNE in caused turnovers with two. Nicholas Hinck had three caused turnovers to lead Nazareth's defense.
• Jonathan Salsbury made Eleven saves for the Golden Bears.
• McLean Ralston made 13 saves to lead Nazareth to the win.
• Nazareth defeated WNE 19-9.

Up Next on the Schedule:

WNE will step on the field once again on Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Kings Point, N.Y. They will travel to New York to take on the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, who the Golden Bears are 1-0 against since 2004, with that lone win being a 15-7 victory last year, 2024.