Six-straight fourth quarter goals propel Golden Bears past Seahawks, 15-9

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - Junior Andrew Mariani (East Brunswick, N.J.) and sophomore Corrigan Harreys (Deep River, Conn.) each tallied three goals as the Western New England College men's lacrosse team remained undefeated in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) with a 15-9 win over Salve Regina University Wednesday afternoon at Gaudet Field.

Fellow junior Brewster Knowlton (Somers, Conn.) made 10 saves for the Golden Bears, who improved to 6-4 on the season, 5-0 in the conference, and 6-0 all-time against the Seahawks. Freshman Chad Hollenshade (Lutherville, Md.) scored four times to lead Salve Regina, which also received a goal and three assists from senior co-captain Evan Gates (Ridge, N.J.). The loss snaps Salve Regina's (5-3, 2-1 TCCC) five-game win streak.

Leading 9-6 after three quarters of play, the Golden Bears blew the game open with six-straight goals to start the fourth. Freshman Sean Lawton (Abington, Mass.) registered his fifth and sixth goals at 12:46 and 7:15, respectively, to give Western New England its largest lead of the afternoon at 11-6. The Golden Bears scored four more times in the next 3:41 to take a 15-6 lead. Salve Regina closed the scoring with goals from senior co-captain Brendan Rooney (West Newton, Mass.) at 2:44, Hollenshade at 2:36, and junior Brendan Carroll (Garden City, N.Y.) at 2:02.

"Against a good team like Western New England, we didn't bring any energy," said Salve Regina head coach Patrick Cooney. "I thought we underachieved today."

The game remained scoreless for the opening five minutes before WNEC scored two goals in six seconds to grab a 2-0 lead. Senior Colin Houlihan (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) buried his fourth of the season at 9:12, and junior Joe Martin (Springfield, Mass.) took the ensuing face-off all the way down and scored his second at 9:06. Harreys pushed the Golden Bears lead to three (3-0) with his ninth of the season at 7:17, Hollenshade and junior Chris Walker (Marshfield, Mass.) answered for the Seahawks to cut the deficit to one at 3-2. Hollenshade's goal was assisted by Rooney while Walker's 23rd of the season came off a feed from Gates. Mariani netted his first of the afternoon with 1:22 to go in the frame to give WNEC a 4-2 lead after one.

Gates brought the Seahawks to within one (4-3) with his 10th goal early in the second quarter, but Mariani's second of the afternoon and seventh of the season at 9:58 made it 5-3 WNEC. The Golden Bears answered Hollenshade's first of the afternoon at 8:18 with goals by Harreys and Mariani to take a 7-4 lead into the half. Each team scored twice in the third quarter.

Senior Brett Pimental (East Falmouth, Mass.) recorded 20 saves for the Seahawks, who were outshot 52-43. WNEC won 17 of the game's 28 face-offs and held a slim 29-28 edge in ground balls, led by eight fro Martin. Freshman Curtis McKeon (West Haven, Conn.) - often Martin's counterpart in the face-off circle - paced Salve Regina with eight GB's.

Walker finished with two goals and an assist while Rooney had a goal and two assists. Western New England saw 10 different student-athletes score at least one goal.

The Seahawks return to action on Saturday when they travel to Henniker, N.H. for a 1 p.m. contest at New England College. The Golden Bears host Springfield College on Tuesday, April 5 at 4 p.m.