WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 30, 2026) – The Western New England men's ice hockey team pulled off an upset for the ages on Friday night at the Olympia Ice Center, coming away with a 4-3 overtime victory over the seventh-ranked Gulls of Endicott College, seeing Michael Bottrell win the game in the extra session for the Golden Bears to complete the thrilling victory. 

Records

• Western New England: 4-14-0, 2-11-0 CNE
• No. 7 Endicott College: 13-2-2, 8-2-2 CNE

How it Happened:

First Period:

• Endicott had the offensive edge in the first two minutes of the game, but the Golden Bears would be the first to score just 2:05 into the game, taking advantage of an early opportunity to find twine. The puck was worked around in the offensive end when Hunter Atkinson found Billy VanSumeren around the net. The sophomore then sent the puck in front of the goal to a wide-open Beau Helmeczi, who ripped a shot past Endicott's Peter Sterling for his first career goal, giving the Golden Bears a 1-0 lead. 
• Luca Scaglione continued his excellent play between the pipes for WNE, making eight saves on eight Gulls shots on goal through the midway point of the opening frame. Endicott controlled much of the offense in the final ten minutes of the period and picked up a power play with under six minutes remaining in the frame but Scaglione and the WNE penalty kill kept the high-flying Gulls off the scoreboard.
• Looking to survive an Endicott rush late, Western New England sustained all they could before Primo Self found twine for the Gulls on assists from Michael Casey and Kyle Furey with just 20 seconds remaining to even the score after 20 minutes of play. The Gulls had the 12-8 shot advantage in the opening period, taking 30 shots overall. 

Second Period: 

• The Golden Bears capitalized on the second chance of the second period to take the lead back at the 2:46 mark of the frame when Hunter Atkinson scored for the first time in his collegiate career, scoring on a wrap-around jam play at the net on an assist from Beau Helmeczi as the WNE third line was all over the ice in the first 22 minutes of the period, helping WNE take a 2-1 lead in the game. The Golden Bears stayed on the attack following, but were denied by Endicott's goalkeeper on a pair of chances. 
• The Gulls found their offensive footing after the flurry of chances from the Golden Bears, testing the WNE defense and Luca Scaglione, who continued to stand tall between the pipes for the Blue and Gold. Through the midway point of the period, Endicott had the shots lead while Scaglione made 12 saves in the first 12 minutes of the period. 
• Endicott found a goal on a chance in front when Louie Kamienski picked up his ninth goal of the year for the Gulls to tie the game back at two. The Golden Bears had a power play chance with under four minutes left in the second period, but only produced one shot on the chance that saw the period end in a tie score, 2-2, but the Gulls would start the third period on the power play after a late penalty on Western New England with just seven seconds remaining in the period. Endicott had a 23-6 shot advantage in the period. 

Third Period:

• The Gulls needed just 19 seconds of the third period to take their first lead of the game when Primo Self delivered his second goal of the season on a pass from Sebastian Spieck, breaking the tie and giving the visitors a 3-2 edge. Endicott's offense didn't stop there as they owned much of the control in the first eight minutes of the third period. The Gulls had another power play chance just three minutes after their goal, but the Golden Bears came up big, allowing three shots on goal, all turned away by Scaglione. 
• Kyle Walker, Michael Bottrell, and Mathew Fortin took shots for the Golden Bears, while a power play for the Blue and Gold came about with 12 minutes remaining in the period that resulted in just a single shot on goal from Gavin Mastrodonato. The Golden Bears continued to press and came away with the tying goal right at the midway point of the period when Billy VanSumeren found his second of the season on a backhand that beat Sterling on an assist from Helmeczi, who had his third point of the night, while Camille Marcoux picked up the secondary assist for the Golden Bears to even the score at three. 
• Both teams battled in search of the next goal of the game, with the Golden Bears looking to pull off a massive upset for their third CNE win of the season. Scaglione made four saves following the goal from WNE to keep the game even with under six minutes remaining in the period. 
• The Gulls had the better of the scoring chances in the final three minutes of play, but the Western New England defense, combined with the play of Luca Scaglione, helped the Blue and Gold force overtime, still looking for the improbable upset. 

Overtime:

• Just 53 seconds into the overtime session, the Gulls had a quick chance to end the game when Kyle Furey ripped a shot on goal that was taken in by Scaglione. Both Scaglione and Sterling made a save each before the game-winner was decided. 
• Western New England's second chance in overtime found the back of the net as the upset was on. Nick Theodos went end-to-end with the puck and shoveled a pass to Michael Bottrell, who took a shot, lifting the puck over the glove of Sterling and into the back of the net, giving Western New England the 4-3 victory over the Gulls for one of the biggest victories in program history, snapping a 13-game losing streak to Endicott overall. 

Inside the Lines:

• Beau Helmeczi led Western New England with three points on the night, including his first career goal and a pair of assists. The first-year took four shots, putting three on goal, and won nine faceoffs. 
• Hunter Atkinson also picked up his first goal in Blue and Gold on the night and finished with two points for the night. 
• The WNE third line, consisting of Helmeczi, Atkinson, and Billy VanSumeren produced seven points overall, as VanSumeren had a two-point night, himself. 
• Michael Bottrell had the game-winner in overtime that produced the upset for Western New England over the Gulls. Bottrell netted his fourth goal of the season.
• Luca Scaglione led WNE with 53 saves between the pipes, producing a .946 save percentage for the game, earning his second win of the season in goal.
• This is Western New England's first win over Endicott since 2019 and just the second time WNE has taken the Gulls to an extra frame over the last 25 meetings. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will look to complete a weekend sweep on Saturday, January 31, at 3:00 PM when the two teams meet for the final time in the regular season.