SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 24, 2026) – The Western New England football team is set to begin Conference of New England (CNE) play on Saturday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium when the University of New England makes a visit to Springfield. The Golden Bears are coming off a dramatic victory in their final non-conference game of the regular season last time out, while the Nor'easters will be in search of their first win of the 2026 campaign.

Last Time Out:
The Golden Bears are coming off a memorable victory last Saturday afternoon, downing the Lancers of Worcester State University 42-40, behind a Hail Mary touchdown pass on the last play of the game to come away with the win. WNE led off the contest with the first two scores of the game, taking an early 14-0 lead, but the Lancers stormed back with back-to-back touchdowns in just 18 seconds of game action to quickly tie the game at 14. Following a field goal, Worcester State took its first lead of the contest with 4:40 to play in the second quarter, but the Golden Bears were able to fight back with a touchdown in the last minute of the opening half, taking a 21-17 lead at the break.

Worcester State matched what the Golden Bears did in the first half in the second half, scoring the first 14 points of the frame, knocking through a field goal before scoring a touchdown to take a 27-21 lead. The back-and-forth contest then saw Western New England cross the end zone with 1:24 to play in the third quarter, taking the lead back, 28-27, after three quarters of play. In a dramatic fourth quarter that featured 27 points in all, Worcester State started the scoring with ten minutes remaining in the frame, taking a 33-28 lead. Western New England responded to take the lead back with under six minutes to play, taking a 36-33 advantage. On the ensuing Worcester State drive, the Lancers used nearly five minutes of clock, but scored with 41 seconds to play to cap off a 12-play, 71-yard drive, leading WNE 40-36. On the last drive of the afternoon, Western New England began at its own 25-yard line and made it to their own 42-yard line with just one second to play, needing a heave to the end zone to complete a miracle. A miracle is exactly what the Golden Bears completed, seeing a 58-yard pass from Corey Kilroy to Kevin Acosta complete, as Western New England pulled off a Hail Mary touchdown to come away with the 42-40 victory, picking up their first victory of the 2026 season.

Western New England's Offense:
The Golden Bears completed just eight passes on 24 attempts last time out, none bigger than Corey Kilroy's lone pass of the game, a completion to Kevin Acosta to give the Golden Bears the victory. Drew Caouette started the game at the quarterback position and saw the bulk of the time at the position last week, completing seven passes over 23 attempts, throwing for 110 yards. Acosta's 58-yard touchdown was his lone catch of the afternoon. Jova'n Hill, Davis Nelson, and Christian Delgado all had two catches for Western New England in the win. Western New England's success came on the ground, led by senior Matt LaMontagne, who rushed 16 times for 123 yards, scoring a touchdown for WNE. LaMontagne has one touchdown in all three games this season, totaling 27 career touchdowns on the ground.  LaMontagne has rushed for over 100 yards five times in his career. His 123 yards last Saturday was his first 100+ yard rushing game of the season. Matthew McGuire was effective on the ground for the Golden Bears, running 12 times for 45 yards, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the process. Corey Kilroy rushed three times for ten yards, but scored two touchdowns on the ground, totaling four rushing touchdowns for the season. 

Western New England's Defense:
The Golden Bears recorded six tackles for loss in their last game at Worcester State, while Nick Kolifrath led the Blue and Gold with nine total tackles, five solo and four assisted, also recording an interception for the Golden Bears in the win. Anthony Sturniolo continues to round into form in his new role this season, recording six solo tackles and two assisted tackles on the season, picking up two tackles for loss. Sturniolo leads Western New England this season with 28 total tackles, 15 solo and 13 assisted. Sturniolo's 28 tackles are tied for second-most in the Conference of New England. All of Austin Pszczolkowski, Will Brooks, Drew Bartucca, and Dimaggio Ferrara recorded five tackles each for Western New England. First-year Colvin Levesque impressed with four tackles, three of which were solo, while picking up a team-high three breakup passes for the Golden Bears.

Western New England's Special Teams:
In their 42-40 victory over Worcester State, the Golden Bears were forced to punt five times. Rhys Surprenant averaged over 31 yards per kick, picking up a 55-yard boot as a long for the afternoon. Max LoGrasso did not attempt any field goals, though went 4/4 on extra point attempts, remaining perfect on the season.  Christian Delgado logged one punt return for the Golden Bears, picking up eight yards. Jova'n Hill recorded a pair of kickoff returns, totaling 41 yards, while Isaiah Jolly also picked up a pair of kickoff returns for WNE on the afternoon. Western New England blocked a field goal attempt made by Worcester State in the third quarter, with Jackson Caramanica getting a hand on the play.

Quick Scout On UNE:
The Nor'easters come into Saturday's matchup looking for their first win of the season after dropping contests to Coast Guard (49-35), WPI (22-21), and Hampden-Sydney (43-41). UNE picked up its first win in program history over Western New England last season, a 37-31 win. On offense, the Nor'easters are led by multiple upperclassmen, including senior quarterback Chris Lang Jr. Lang Jr. has made starts in all three games for the University of New England this season, throwing 35 completions over 74 attempts (.473), throwing for 510 yards and six touchdowns on the year. Lang Jr. averaged 170 yards of offense through the air. Lang Jr.'s top receiver this season has been junior Quinn Carlson, who has recorded six catches for 100 yards, picking up a pair of touchdowns. UNE's Will McLoughlin also has six catches on the season, recording 59 yards of offense. Javin Willis, Alex Yeaton, Max Viglione, and Cam Kearney all have a touchdown catch for the Nor'easters this season. On the ground, the Nor'easters are led by Damien Jones, who has recorded 66 rushes for 403 yards, scoring three touchdowns on the year. Nathan Delgado has rushed 40 times for the Nor'easters, picking up 191 yards of offense picking up a pair of touchdowns.

On defense, the Nor'easters are led by Jeremy Franzini, who has a team-high in solo tackles (20) and overall tackles (26) on the year. Aidan Blood has recorded 14 solo and seven assisted tackles for UNE, while recording UNE's only interception of the season. The UNE defense has recorded ten sacks already through three games on the year. Cole McLauglin and George Villis both have two sacks for the Nor'easters this season, while Franzini, Michael Sullivan, Spencer LaBrecque, Miguel Montalvo, Brody Nicholson, and Huner Weldon have all recorded one sack on the year.
The University of New England special teams have attempted three field goals on the season, making one from Ben Durkin, who hit a 23-yard attempt during the first game of the season. Durkin went 0/2 last week in a two-point loss to Hampden-Sydney. UNE has punted 16 times through three games, led by Cam Durkin, who averaged just over 38 yards per punt. Durkin's longest of the season is 63 yards, while the junior has recorded two fair catches, four punts inside the 20-yard line, and a pair of kicks over 50 yards. Damien Jones, Javin Willis, Nathan Delgado, and Max Viglione are all candidates for the Nor'easters to return punts and kickoffs for the team.

The Matchup:
Saturday's Conference of New England opener is set for a 1:00 PM kickoff. The Golden Bears own a 6-1 record all-time over UNE, but the Nor'easters came out with the victory on their home field last time out. WNE is 3-0 against the University of New England at Golden Bear Stadium.
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