WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 24, 2026) – The Western New England men's ice hockey team played in a close game with the 11^th-ranked Colonels of Curry College on Saturday night inside the Olympia Ice Center, but couldn't finish off a comeback, falling 4-2.

Records:

• Western New England: 4-14-0, 2-11-0 CNE
• No. 11 Curry College: 13-5-0, 10-3-0 CNE

How it Happened:

First Period:

• After Curry dominated the offensive attack in yesterday's game at Curry, the Golden Bears looked to respond to that in Saturday's game and picked up the first shot on goal in the game when Brayden Patricia had his shot denied by Curry's Cam Smith. The Golden Bears pressed early and were rewarded with their first goal of the game just 3:59 into the opening frame when Mathew Fortin jammed home a rebound initially off the stick of Matthew Dougherty, which gave the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead. WNE's Fortin picked up his third goal of the season on the strike to put the Blue and Gold ahead. 
• Following the goal, Curry found its offensive footing, testing WNE goalkeeper Luca Scaglione, who picked up five saves on five shots on goal through the midway point of the opening period. Scaglione kept the Golden Bears in the game for much of the first period before Curry came around with a goal with under five minutes remaining in the frame when Killian Rowlee tipped home a shot from Nicolas Lariviere, evening the score at one. 
• Looking to fend off the Curry attack, the Golden Bears picked up two quick shots on goal following the Curry goal, one from Patricia and another from Dougherty, but could not beat Cam Smith. The Colonels found the back of the net with 44 seconds to play in the first period to take a lead when Gage Dill found twine for the tenth time this season, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead after one period. 
• Curry had the shots advantage 15-10 in the opening period, with Scaglione making 13 saves in the opening period. 

Second Period:

• Curry had much of the attack in the second period, generating over 20 shots in the period. The first power play of the game belonged to the Colonels, who did not miss on the chance when Taurin Haddon-Harris jammed home a loose puck at the goal mouth, giving the Colonels a 3-1 lead. Shane Carr and Mason Kesselring had assists for Curry on the goal to take their first two-goal lead of the game. 
• Curry continued their offensive pressure down the stretch in the final minutes of the second period. Scaglione and the WNE defense came up big to keep Curry from extending their lead. Western New England had a power play chance in the second period that produced one shot on goal from Beau Helmeczi. WNE blocked three Curry shots to end the second period with the Colonels hanging onto a 3-1 lead.
• Curry held the shots advantage 22-7 in the second period, with Scaglione making 21 total saves. 

Third Period:

• Western New England didn't produce a shot on goal until the midway point of the third period, but the Colonels were still stuck on three goals in the game through that point as the defense for the Golden Bears held the visitors at bay. Western New England got a power play at the midway mark of the frame and was able to make some noise on the chance. 
• WNE's power play produced two shots on goal, but they could not find twine. Nine seconds after the power play ended, a shot by Matthew Dougherty was saved, but a rebound chance was netted by Everest Schneider, his third goal of the season, pulling Western New England back within one, 3-2, with 7:51 still to play in the game. 
• Looking for the equalizer, WNE had another power play chance with 5:44 remaining in the period, but the chance did not generate a shot. In the final minutes of the game, the Golden Bears gambled and pulled their goalkeeper, which quickly came back to haunt them as Curry's Manny Cabral iced the game with an empty net strike, giving Curry a 4-2 lead, a lead the Colonels held onto to win the game by, sweeping the regular season series from Western New England. 

Inside the Lines:

• Luca Scaglione was the star of the game for WNE, making 50 total saves in the losing effort, giving up just three goals. 
• Mathew Fortin and Everest Schneider were the WNE goal scorers. Matthew Dougherty led WNE with a pair of assists.
• WNE blocked 15 Curry shots in the game. 
• Curry had four different goal scorers in the game. Manny Cabral, one of the goal scorers, also picked up an assist in the win. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE will play a home-and-home series with Endicott College next weekend, with a home game slated for Friday, January 30, at 8:10 PM.