SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior Colton Craig (Gales Ferry, Conn.) scored five goals and added an assist and classmate Owen Caruso (Port Washington, N.Y.) chipped in with four goals and two assists to help pace the Western New England men's lacrosse team to a 15-5 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team in the Commonwealth Coast Conference opener for both teams.
With the win the Golden Bears improve to 2-6 (1-0) while the Leopards suffer their second straight setback, falling to 3-4 (0-1).
The Leopards jumped out to an early lead, thanks to a pair of man-up goals from sophomore Alec Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) and junior Michael Cushera (Waltham, Mass.), which came 1:37 apart.
After Colton cut the lead to 2-1 with a man-up goal with 7:31 left in the first quarter, sophomore Nick Parent (Windham, N.H.) gave the Leopards a 3-1 lead with a marker coming with 6:19 left. However, the Golden Bears would keep Wentworth off the scoreboard for the next 36:54; scoring 11 consecutive goals to take a 12-3 lead after three quarters of play. During the run, Caruso scored four times and Craig added two.
Parent ended the drought with a goal 35 seconds into the fourth quarter before Craig scored a pair of goals seven seconds apart. The Golden Bears added their final goal with 2:10 left before freshman Mike Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) completed the scoring with a goal with 11 seconds left. On that goal, his brother Ryan was credited with the assist giving him 100 for his career. Ryan Coakley, a junior, became the 10th player in program history to reach the century club. He has reached this milestone in just 25 games.
Cushera finished with a pair of goals and Ryan Coakley had three assists. Senior Jared Proulx (Nashua, N.H.), who made 21 saves, had a team-high eight ground balls.
Junior Brandon Body (Newtown, Conn.) made seven stops for Western New England. Sophomore David Cedrone (Yantic, Conn.) had a game-high 15 ground balls.
Western New England had much success at the face-off X as the Golden Bears won 20 of 24, with Cedrone winning 17 of 20. The Golden Bears had advantages in shots (54-23) and ground balls (61-31).
The Leopards host Roger Williams on Saturday.
