SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 2, 2026) – The Western New England football team is coming off a revenge 28-21 victory over the University of New England in week four of the season and will not shift focus to week five, which sees the Blue and Gold travel to Husson University for another Conference of New England (CNE) battle on Saturday afternoon. 

Last Time Out:
The Golden Bears never trailed in last week's victory over the Nor'easters, putting together a total team effort in the seven-point victory. Western New England came up with a pair of late touchdowns in both the first and second quarters, while shutting out the Nor'easters in the opening 30 minutes of action to lead 14-0 at the break. UNE responded with an early score on their first drive of the quarter, but the Golden Bears scored the next 14 points of the game, including a special teams touchdown at the midway point of the third quarter. The Golden Bears held onto the win after a late push from the Nor'easters that featured a pair of touchdowns in a span of exactly three minutes, but a pair of first downs on the final drive of the game for Western New England gave the Blue and Gold its first conference victory of the season, defeating UNE by a score of 28-21. 

The Golden Bears outpaced the win-less Nor'easters in nearly every statistical category last Saturday, including total yards, where WNE accounted for 395 yards of offense, 234 on the ground and 161 through the air. The biggest difference in the game was UNE's hurry-up offense, as the Nor'easters held the ball for just 16:30 in total, while the Golden Bears took their time, holding the ball for 43:30 overall. The Golden Bears went 6-for-11 on third-down opportunities, while the Nor'easters converted just one third down over nine chances in the game. The Western New England defense allowed zero points in the opening half to UNE, keeping the quick offense in check. Western New England picked up its seventh victory in eight tries over the University of New England and avenged last season's road defeat.

Western New England's Offense:
In his return to the field, Western New England quarterback Paul Gorry was an efficient 13-for-15 in pass attempts, throwing for 161 yards and a touchdown. Gorry's top target was Kevin Acosta, who caught six passes for Western New England for 82 yards, hauling in one touchdown pass. John De Camps caught a pair of passes for 39 yards for the Golden Bears, while Christian Delgado picked up three catches for 28 yards in the win. Western New England ran the ball 54 total times in the game, led by junior Matthew McGuire, who rushed 17 times for 76 yards, coming away with a touchdown. Corey Kilroy was effective for the Golden Bears on the ground, coming up with six rushes for 43 yards, also scoring a touchdown. Kilroy put together a pair of first downs in the final offensive possession of the game to win the game for the Golden Bears. Jason Pratt, Alex Silva, and Yasir Jones also saw action as running backs for the Golden Bears, a crew that put together 234 yards on the ground, averaging 4.3 yards per carry. 

Western New England's Defense:
The WNE defense stole the show in the first half, allowing just 105 total yards to the Nor'easters. Anthony Sturniolo and Nick Kolifrath were the top tacklers for the Golden Bears last Saturday afternoon, both coming away with two solo tackles and seven assisted tackles each. Sturniolo recorded one pass breakup, while Kolifrath picked up one quarterback hurry in the win. Austin Pszczolkowski continues to anchor the WNE defense, coming away with seven tackles last weekend, including two tackles for loss and a half sack. Michael Canavatchel recorded four total tackles for WNE, including one and a half tackles for loss and a half sack. 

Sturniolo leads WNE with 37 total tackles this season, 17 solo tackles and 20 assisted tackles for the year. Kolifrath is right behind with 31 tackles for the year, including 13 solo tackles and 18 assisted tackles. Pszczolkowski leads the Western New England defense with six tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. 11 total Golden Bears have recorded at least ten tackles this season, including Gavin Russo, Dimaggio Ferrara, RaShawn Shelton, Michael Canavatchel, Ryan Clark, DJ Gordon, Henry Rodrigues, and Sean DuTremble. 

Western New England's Special Teams:
Rhys Surprenant was forced to punt just one time for the Golden Bears last week, sending the punt 41 yards. Surprenant has attempted 13 punts this season for the Golden Bears, averaging just shy of 38 yards per punt. Max LoGrasso attempted his first field goal of the season last week against UNE, coming up wide right from 34 yards out. Despite the miss, LoGrasso came up with four more makes on extra point attempts, staying perfect for the season (15/15). Logan Watts came up with the biggest play of the game against the Nor'easters, blocking a punt attempt and scoring the ball following the punt to put points on the scoreboard. Watts received honors from the CNE this past week as the Special Teams Player of the Week. Both Christian Delgado and Jova'n Hill returned kickoffs during the week for the Golden Bears. 

Quick Scout On Husson:
The Eagles will be hungry this coming Saturday afternoon for their first win of the season, starting the season 0-4. The Eagles lost last time out on the road, falling to No. 12/16 Endicott College by a final score of 35-6. The Eagles' offense has scored just 34 points over four games this year, and was shut out by Springfield College on home field in week two. Brody Gibson heads the quarterback position for Husson this season and has completed 61 passes over 115 attempts in a pass-heavy offense. The Eagles senior has thrown three touchdown passes this season, but has also been intercepted five times this year. Jacob Lenz is the top receiver to Gibson's passes, having caught 17 passes for 234 yards and has scored one touchdown. Lenz averages just short of 60 yards per game through the air. Four different Eagles have eight catches each on the year, including Dom Rolle, Brett Davis, Dominic Trott, and Caden Crocker. Husson has run the football 122 times this season, gaining 397 yards of offense, 3.3 yards per game. The Eagles' leading back is Anthony Santacroce, who has run 60 times for Husson for 222 yards and has scored a pair of touchdowns. Daniel Ruiz Cantu has carried the rock 39 times for the Eagles for 121 yards on the season. 

The Husson defense has given up 129 points over four games this season, including the 35 points given up in their conference opener at Endicott College last week. Brayden Trombly is Husson's leading tackler, picking up 23 solo tackles and 12 assisted tackles on the season, good for 35 overall on the season. The Husson junior has recorded an interception, pass breakup, and forced fumble for the year. Calvin Casavant has been one of the top defenders for the Eagles in his first season, having picked up 17 tackles, nine solo and eight assisted. Casavant leads the Eagles with 2.5 sacks this season for a loss of 19 yards and has picked up one pass breakup and a pair of quarterback hurries for the season. Erik Menger and Lopati Stotler have picked up a full sack for Husson. 

The Eagles have been forced to punt 15 times, all coming from the leg of Parker Hunter, who averages 37 yards per kick and has forced seven fair catches. The Eagles have yet to attempt a field goal on the season, while seeing opponents go 4-for-6 this season. Brett Davis has been called upon to return three punts for Husson on the year, averaging just less than 20 yards per return. Davis has also recorded eight of the 16 kickoff returns for the Eagles on the year, averaging 19 yards per return. 

The Game:
Western New England is looking to bounce back from two straight losses in Bangor, having dropped decisions in both 2022 and 2024. The Golden Bears are 7-2 all-time against Husson and are a perfect 6-0 at Golden Bear Stadium, but just 1-2 away from Springfield. The Golden Bears will be in search of their first 2-0 start in conference play on Saturday, looking to obtain that feat for the first time since 2019, when WNE won the conference outright.

To watch Saturday's game, click here. 

To view the live statistics, click here.