SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - In a battle of unbeaten and nationally-ranked teams, No. 3 Western New England College scored six unanswered goals in the deciding third period for a 13-5 victory over No. 17 Keene State College Saturday afternoon (May 12) before 1,235 fans in a second round game of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship.
The victory gave the Golden Bears a 17-0 record and another home contest against defending national champion Cortland State on Wednesday (May 16)in the national quarterfinals. The No. 12 Red Dragons defeated St. Lawrence 13-8.
Senior co-captain Adam Cherry (Westfield, MA) scored two goals with two assists and sophomore Scott Kukis (Sudbury, MA) also tallied twice for the Golden Bears who captured the program's first ever NCAA Tournament contest. This also was the first time the school hosted a NCAA event on campus.
Keene State, which defeated Merchant Maritime Academy 14-11 for its first NCAA win ever this past Wednesday, took a 1-0 lead on a goal by junior midfielder Ryan Hazleton (Chester, NH) at the 8:30 mark of the opening period. WNEC scored four straight goals for a 4-1 lead after the opening 15 minutes. The Owls cut the margin to 5-3 at intermission.
Senior midfielder Zack Sondrini (Pittsfield, MA) netted a goal just 1:05 into the third stanza and junior midfielder Travis Brown (Montpelier,VT) added a quick goal just 21 seconds later to lead the Golden Bears'charge. Kukis had both of his goals in the run that gave the hosts a comfortable 11-3 edge heading into the final period.
Western New England College had 13 players score points in the game and the defense did its part by limiting Keene State to its lowest scoring total of the season. Junior goalie Chris Body (Newtown, CT) had a steady game making 10 saves.
"It was a nice win for our team," said Western New England College coach John Klepacki. "We had opportunities to score in the second period, but didn't. We did a better job in the third quarter. We had more depth in the middle and tried to avoid the mental errors."
Cherry added, "We weren't satisfied the way we played at the beginning. We're a big transition team and don't like to throw the ball away. We made some adjustments and took some higher quality shots."
Sophomore attack player Tony Santa Fe (Derry, NH) led the Owls with three goals and an assist while junior midfielder Mike Fontaine (Wolfboro, NH) contributed two assists. Junior goalie Matt Johnson (Derry, NH) compiled 24 saves to set a school mark for the second straight game. He stopped 23 shots against Merchant Marine.
"We started well, but they chipped away and I have to give John Klepacki and his coaching staff a lot of credit," said Keene State coach Mark Theriault. "They were well-prepared and their transition game is one of the best."
Klepacki and Theriault are very close friends and former four-year teammates at Springfield College where they played on the school's 1994 NCAA Division II championship team. Theriault also coached at Western New England College for one season, leading the Golden Bears to a 13-4 record and Pilgrim League Tournament title in 1996. Western New England College lost to Ithaca (16-15 in overtime) in its only other NCAA appearance in 2002.
(Courtesy WNEC Sports Information)
