SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 19, 2026) – The Golden Bears were back on the Bear for their season-opener versus the #13-ranked Saints of St. Lawrence University. The Saints got out to a quick start with a 4-0 first quarter and a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. The Golden Bears would fight back into the game thanks to a couple of Jacob Roy and Thomas Labbe goals. They would squeeze the deficit to five early in the fourth quarter after three goals in a row before the Saint ended the game on a 4-1 run to win the contest 17-9.

Records:
Western New England: 0-1 (0-0)
St. Lawrence University: 1-0 (0-0)

How it Happened:
First Quarter:

• The contest started quickly thanks to Daniel Mahoney's first goal of the season, eleven seconds into the game. The was the first of four Saint goals in the opening quarter. Three of those goals were scored by Mahoney, giving him a first-quarter hat trick.
• Will Abplanalp scored the other goal for the Saints in the first. It was a faceoff win that was run immediately down the field for the goal in seven seconds.
• Jamie Rosenzweig had both Saint assists in the first quarter. The other two goals were unassisted. Those two assists to WNE's zero were one stat category led by the Saints after the first quarter. The Golden Bears led in shots 8-7, and both teams had five shots on goal. St. Lawrence also led in saves 5-1, faceoff wins 3-2, ground balls picked up 10-5, and clears made 3-2. WNE had more turnovers, 7-5.

Second Quarter:

• The second quarter started similarly to the first as St. Lawrence scored a goal 18 seconds into the quarter. Then, after a scoreless stretch for the teams, Ted Wilson and Ethan Friedberg both scored and lengthened the Saint lead to 7-0.
• With 4:41 left in the first half, Jacob Roy would find the back of the net off an assist from Josh Gagnon to score WNE's first goal of the season. Max Rudgers would add the second goal of the season with 2:06 left, but Mahoney scored one more in between the WNE goals, and the score sat at 8-2 at halftime.
• The second period stats showed more of a St. Lawrence stat line with shots going in favor of them 11-8, shots on goal 8-5, faceoff wins 4-2, ground balls 12-6, and they won the faceoff battle 4-7. WNE had more clears made, 6-5.

Third Quarter:

• The Saints once again would score less than a minute into the quarter with a Henry Crean goal, moving them to up 9-2, and Friedberg made it 10-2 with less than ten minutes left in the third, thanks to a man-up goal.
• WNE started to make a run after that with two Thomas Labbe goals. The teams would trade goals after that, but it was St. Lawrence who finished the third on a 3-1 run to take a 13-8 lead into the final quarter of play. Mahoney had six goals through three quarters, and Friedberg had a hat trick after scoring another man-up goal.
• WNE trailed on the stat sheet during the third quarter as well. The Saints had more shots, 12-8, shots on goal 10-4, faceoff wins 5-4, ground balls picked up, 11-8, and clears made 4-3. WNE had more turnovers, 4-1, and saves 5-1. WNE trailed 13-5 after three quarters of play.

Fourth Quarter:

• WNE would start the fourth quickly with a Dylan Nardone goal, assisted by TJ Dalicandro. Two more goals within just over two minutes saw WNE cut the deficit to five with 11:44 left in the contest. St. Lawrence then called a timeout, and WNE had all the momentum.
• However, after the timeout, the Saints went on a 4-1 run and won the game 17-9. Mahoney had two more goals during that run to make it eight goals on the day. Friedberg added one more man-up goal to put that total at four goals.
• The final stat line saw the Saints lead in shots 36-33, shots on goal 28-19, ground balls picked up 41-29, and caused turnovers 10-9. WNE had more saves, 11-10, clears 14-13, and turnovers 24-16.

Inside the Lines:

• WNE lost to #13 St. Lawrence University 17-9 in their season-opener.
• Daniel Mahoney led the Saints with ten of their 17 points. Mahoney had eight goals and two assists.
• Ethan Friedberg picked up four goals and an assist for five points. Jamie Rosenzweig picked up five assists to grab five points as well.
• Will Abplanalp went 15-27 from the faceoff spot, collecting seven ground balls.
• Rafferty Callahan made ten saves for the Saints.
• WNE was led in points by Jacob Roy, who had two goals and three assists.
• Chris Catuosco had twelve faceoff wins and nine ground balls.
• Chase Beyus made eleven saves for WNE.

Coach's Corner:
Coach John Klepacki was asked for a comment after a tough loss to open the season, despite showing fight in the end. "I think the guys played a nationally ranked team to open up, and I think we competed and ran our sets. I think there is a couple moments that we had that we'd like back. Overall, I thought the effort was strong. I think we are starting to play together, and I think positive things are looking to happen. I think we had a little bit of a run there in the second half of putting some pieces together, and now we just gotta make that happen a little bit earlier in the game and maybe a little more often," Klepacki stated.
Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE returns to Golden Bear Stadium on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 4:00 PM for their annual showdown with Keene State College.