Western New England University

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 4, 2026) – The No. 2-seeded Western New England field hockey team was bested in the Conference of New England (CNE) Semifinal round on Wednesday night at Golden Bear Stadium, falling to No. 3 Roger Williams University in overtime by a final score of 2-1. 

Records:

• Western New England: 12-7
• Roger Williams University: 15-6

How it Happened:

First Quarter:

• Western New England had an attacking mindset to begin the game, with Jenna Nigro getting a chance less than two minutes into the game, but was stopped by RWU's Meili Raspante. WNE's second chance of the game found the back of the net when Mikayla Mrzywka slotted home a pass from Nigro, scoring for the 20^th time this season, giving the Golden Bears the 1-0 lead. 
• Roger Williams found its offensive footing following the strike from WNE, putting four shots on goal in a two-minute span, but all were saved by Alex Tardugno. 
• The junior goalkeeper kept Western New England in the contest, coming up with seven saves in the opening 15 minutes overall. Western New England saw a chance in the final two minutes of the period when Gemma Kennedy had a bid on goal, but it was saved, as WNE took a 1-0 lead after one quarter. 

Second Quarter:

• The second 15 minutes of play were dominated by the visitors, as the Hawks had all the scoring chances. RWU's Reese Jefferson had a pair of shots on goal in the opening five minutes of the quarter, but Tardugno continued to stand tall between the pipes, keeping the Hawks without a goal. 
• Western New England did not register a shot in the second quarter, while the Hawks took six penalty corners in the frame. 
• Roger Williams struck on their final penalty corner of the frame when McKenzie Foley scored her third goal of the season, second against the Golden Bears, taking a shot from just inside the arc, which deflected off a WNE defender in front to tie the game at one with 1:13 remaining in the quarter. RWU outshot WNE 9-0 overall in the quarter. 

Third Quarter:

• Western New England earned its second penalty corner of the game in the third quarter, which resulted in a pair of shots from WNE, as Mrzywka and Analise Trani tested Raspante, who made a pair of saves to keep the Golden Bears from scoring. 
• Roger Williams inserted three more corners in the third quarter but could not score, as Tardugno made four more saves in the frame to keep the game tied after 45 minutes. 

Fourth Quarter:

• RWU could not take advantage of a player up to begin the fourth quarter when a yellow card went against the Golden Bears. The Hawks took just one shot on goal, saved by Tardugno. 
• Western New England couldn't generate any offense in the fourth quarter, while being outshot 7-0 in the frame, but three saves by Tardugno kept the game tied, forcing overtime. 

Overtime:

• Roger Williams had a chance to end the game just 32 seconds in when Maddy Monahan worked through the WNE defense and put a shot on goal that was saved by Tardugno. Just 23 seconds later, a shot from Anna Kruggel was tipped in front of the goal by Brodie Loveland into the net, giving the Hawks the victory in the extra session, 2-1, advancing to the CNE Championship Game. 

Inside the Lines:

• Mikayla Mrzywka matched her season goal total from last season, picking up her 20^th goal of the season to open the scoring of the game. 
• Alex Tardugno did all she could to keep WNE in the game, making 20 saves on RWU's 22 shots on goal. 
• McKenzie Foley and Brodie Loveland found the back of the net for RWU in the win. 
• The Hawks outshot the Golden Bears 32-6 in the game and 22-5 on goal. 
• Roger Williams avenged defeat to the Golden Bears from earlier in the regular season after WNE stopped a five-game losing streak to RWU in September of this season.
• Western New England has now fallen in the CNE Semifinals for the sixth straight season.