SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 26, 2025) – Following a 48-13 win in their final non-conference game of the regular season, the Western New England football team opens Conference of New England play on Saturday afternoon against the University of New England Nor'easters, seeking their seventh straight win over UNE in the programs' seventh meeting all-time.

Last Time Out: 
Western New England and the University of New England are both coming off non-conference victories, with the Golden Bears defeating Worcester State University 48-13 and the University of New England grabbing a 35-8 win at Vermont State University Castleton on the road. The Golden Bears never trailed in the game against the Lancers, opening a quick 10-0 lead in the game and never looking back, putting 28 points up in the second half to run away with a 35-point victory. A field goal was the only score of the opening quarter for Western New England as a 27-yard field goal was true through the uprights to give the blue and gold a quick 3-0 lead. The Western New England defense came up strong over the Lancers, holding Worcester to just 18 yards of offense through the opening 15 minutes of play, split evenly between nine rush yards and nine yards through the air. A one-yard touchdown run to begin the second quarter was what the Golden Bears opened with, capping off a 12-play, 67-yard drive. Worcester State rallied on its next offensive possession and put up a touchdown on the Golden Bears to get right back into the game, responding in just 2:03, dropping WNE's lead back down to three, 10-7. Not long after the Lancer touchdown, WNE would run the ball down the field and score a nine-yard touchdown, expanding their lead back to ten. One final offensive possession for the Golden Bears in the second quarter resulted in three more points, taking a 20-7 halftime lead. Worcester State held the edge in yardage in the second quarter, finding 104 of their 106 total second-quarter yards through the air while WNE was successful on the ground, running for 66 of their 104 total yards in the frame. 

Western New England blew the game wide open with a pair of rushing touchdowns in the third quarter while holding Worcester State to no points and just 40 total yards. The WNE defense picked up a sack and two interceptions in the quarter to completely hold off Worcester State. The blue and gold opened the fourth quarter with their fifth rushing touchdown of the afternoon to expand their lead to 41-7. The sixth and final touchdown of the afternoon also came on the ground, which capped off Western New England's longest drive of the day, a 12-play, 74-yard drive that took over eight minutes to complete, giving the Golden Bears a 48-7 lead. Worcester State picked up a score with 33 seconds left in the game which would be all they would get for the half as Western New England took care of home field advantage with a 48-13 victory over the Lancers, improving to 2-1 on the season and 2-0 all-time against their opponent. 

The University of New England, one of Division III's best offenses to begin the season, impressed for a third straight game last week after an overtime win (56-49) over U.S. Coast Guard Academy in week one and a blowout home victory over WPI (41-3) in week two. The Nor'easters jumped on their week three opponent in VTSU Castleton early, scoring a touchdown on the first drive of the game and converting on a two-point conversion to lead 8-0 just 1:35 into the game. The Nor'easter defense then took back a 45-yard touchdown on an interception, going ahead by 15 points less than seven minutes into the game and never looked back from there. Following five consecutive series in which a punt was forced by the defense, UNE failed on a fourth-and-eight from the Castleton 32-yard line, but the turnover on downs did not hurt the Nor'easters as the UNE defense quickly forced the Spartans off the field with a three-and-out. The next offensive possession resulted in the only touchdown of the second quarter for either team as UNE expanded its lead to 22-0 and then hit a field goal with just one second left in the half to take a 25-0 lead after 30 minutes of play. 

The Nor'easter defense picked up a stop on fourth-and-one to begin the second half and used that momentum to put the game out of reach on Castleton, scoring a touchdown on a 41-yard pass to take a commanding 32-0 lead. The score held until UNE would find a field goal to begin the fourth quarter, finishing off the afternoon with 35 points in the victory. Castleton put up a touchdown at the midway point of the fourth quarter and converted on a two-point conversion, but that would be all the Spartans got as the Nor'easters came away with 536 total yards of offense and earned a 35-8 win. 

Offensive Threats (WNE): 
Western New England picked up three touchdowns from their first-year quarterback Kelan Cornell, who entered the game in the second half and immediately made an impact for the blue and gold. Cornell rushed for 103 yards for the Golden Bears on 11 attempts, scoring from 50, 14, and 4 yards out to lead the Golden Bears to victory. Paul Gorry started the afternoon at quarterback, completing ten passes for 108 yards and rushing four times, scoring a touchdown. Matt LaMontagne was also heavily involved in the successful run game for the Golden Bears, which netted over 300 yards in the win, running 14 times for 85 yards and a touchdown. 

Through the air, the Golden Bears were led by De'Andre Harris, who caught four passes for 105 yards in the win. With his 105 yards, Harris moved into fifth place all-time in Western New England football history in receiving yards. Kevin Acosta picked up three catches for 24 yards, and Christian Delgado caught one pass for 21 yards in the win.

Offensive Threats (UNE):
The Nor'easters rank fifth in Division III (241 ranked) this season, gaining 1,826 yards through three games. Chris Lang has started at quarterback for the Nor'easters this season, throwing 65 completions on 104 attempts for 862 yards and six touchdowns. Lang has averaged 287 yards so far this season. Lang's top targets on offense include Berto Zepeda, who had 18 catches for 361 yards and a pair of touchdowns to begin the season, as well as John Germano, who has notched 14 catches for 175 yards for the year. 

UNE has rushed 820 yards of offense on the ground on the year, which ranks ninth in NCAA Division III. The Nor'easters are led by junior Damien Jones, who has carried the rock 62 times for 412 yards and scored three touchdowns, averaging 137 yards per game. Nathan Delgado, brother of WNE wide receiver Christian Delgado, has the second-most rushing attempts for the Nor'easters this season with 43, rushing for 140 yards, and leads UNE with four touchdowns. The Nor'easters are tied for 16^th this season in scoring offense. 

Lockdown Defenders (WNE): 
Ben Mann recorded Western New England's first 1.5 sacks of the season last week in the win over Worcester State, totaling three tackles overall. Junior Nick Kolifrath continues to lead the Golden Bears in tackles for the season, having recorded three solo tackles and 16 assisted tackles on the year. Kolifrath also has an interception and a pass breakup to his credit. Eight total Golden Bears are in double-digits in tackles through three games this season, including Kolifrath, Austin Pszczolkowski, Henry Rodrigues, Miles Stovall, Johnny Ferrentino, Nathaniel Mathis, Michael Canavatchel, and Ryan Clark. 

WNE had six interceptions in two games this year, led by Ferrentino, who picked up a pair of picks against Salve Regina University in week two. Kolifrath, Clark, Will Feliz, and Brayden Bunnell also have interceptions to their name this season. Over their six meetings with UNE, Western New England has held the Nor'easter offense to seven points or less in their last three meetings and has given up 81 points in total. 

Lockdown Defenders (UNE):
After giving up 49 points in their week one victory to Coast Guard, the UNE defense has locked down their last two opponents' offenses, giving up just a field goal to WPI in a 41-3 win and a fourth-quarter touchdown to VTSU Castleton in last week's 35-8 win. Three Nor'easters have collected 20 or more tackles for the year, including Ben Cardoso, who has 16 solo tackles, ten assisted tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack, two breakup passes, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Teighan Jeremy leads the Nor'easters in tackles for a loss this season with five, picking up 22 total tackles for the year, as well as 2.5 sacks and an interception. Spencer Shreck totaled seven tackles last week against Castleton and has 20 for the season. 

The UNE defense has picked off its opposing quarterback six times this season, led by Oscar Clark, who has a pair. Chris Winslow leads the team with five break-up passes, while five different Nor'easters have recorded a quarterback hurry this season. 

Special Team Leaders (WNE):
Reigning Conference of New England Special Teams Player of the Week Max LoGrasso has impressed through the first three games of the season, going 5/5 in field goal attempts, including last week's 2/2 effort, hitting from 27 yards and a new career high of 42 yards for the Golden Bears. LoGrasso also made all six extra-point attempts last week and is now 10/11 on total tries for the season. 

John Moss was forced to punt just once last week against Worcester State, sailing 34 yards. Moss has eight total punts for the season, averaging just under 32 yards per kick. Christian Delgado returned three punts last week for the Golden Bears, returning for 29 yards. Jova'n Hill and Isaiah Jolly returned a combined three kicks, totaling 75 yards on the returns. 

Special Team Leaders (UNE): 
The Nor'easters have looked to Anthony Lacaprucia to kick field goals, seeing the sophomore go 3/5 in the early goings of the season. Lacaprucia nailed both attempts last week at VTSU Castleton and is a perfect 15/15 in extra-point attempts on the year, including an 8/8 effort in week one over Coast Guard. 

Cam Durkin has punted 15 times for UNE, averaging just under 39 yards per punt. Durkin's long this season was a 52-yard boot. The sophomore has put six of his 15 kicks inside the 20 yard line and has forced three fair catches. Damien Jones and Nathan Delgado have both been used in the punt return while John Germano tacks on with Jones in kickoff returns. Germano has averaged 24 yards on three returns this season. 

The Matchup:
Western New England travels to Blue Bolt Stadium in Biddeford, Maine, for the fourth time in program history, seeking their fourth win overall. WNE defeated the Nor'easters last season 24-6 in what was their final home game of the season. The Golden Bears have toppled UNE in their last four meetings, allowing just 13 points total while scoring 96 points on offense. Saturday's game opens Conference of New England play for both teams. 

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*............1:00 PM
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 (University of New England):
9/6         vs. U.S. Coast Guard Academy………........W, 56-49 (OT)
9/13       vs. Worcester Polytechnic Institute…...…W, 41-3
9/20       at  VTSU Castleton…………………………...........W, 35-8 
9/27       vs. Western New England University*.....1:00 PM
10/4       at  Endicott College*………………………….…12:00 PM
10/17     at  Maine Maritime Academy*……………...…6:00 PM
10/25     vs. Husson University*…………………….....1:00 PM
11/1       vs. Nichols College*………………............…1:00 PM
11/8       at  Curry College*……………………................12:00 PM
11/15     vs. New England College*……………….....12:00 PM

* Conference of New England Game
Home Games Noted in BOLD

Watch And Follow:
Saturday's CNE opener will kickoff at 1:00 PM from Blue Bolt Stadium on the campus of the University of New England. 

To watch Saturday afternoon's contest, click here. 

To follow the live stats, click here. 

To purchase tickets to the contest, click here.