Tag Archives: WNEC Golden Bears

Mar 18 2013

Mass. College Lax: Locals Earn Spots In This Week’s USILA Poll

By Matt Noonan 

The USILA (United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association) unveiled its most recent coaches poll today and a few local squads earned spots.

Division I Breakdown: No Massachusetts team appeared on this week’s list, but UMass was mentioned as one of five teams that’s currently receiving votes. The Minutemen, who haven’t appeared in the win column since defeating Harvard on Feb. 23, have dropped their last four contests, which included its Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opener this past weekend against Penn State. UMass can even its record with a win against Lehigh tomorrow.

Division II Breakdown: Merrimack College, who is ranked seventh, evened its record at 1-1 with a victory this past weekend against Lake Erie. Jamie Shand netted the game-winning strike against with 4:18 remaining, while teammate Corey Lunney led all scorers with four goals. Merrimack opens Northeast-10 Conference play on Saturday when they travel to American International.

Division III: Tufts University snapped their two-game skid with an 18-14 victory against Stevens this past weekend. The Jumbos, who are ranked ninth this week, will attempt to continue their momentum against the Mustangs of Stevenson, who’re riding a six-game winning streak.

The 15th ranked Western New England Golden Bears picked up an impressive win against Nazareth on Sunday thanks to four goals from Corbett Corrigan Harreys. WNEC will have a few days off before they travel to Medford to face-off against Tufts.

Feb 26 2013

Mass. College Baseball: WNEC Tabbed As CCC Preseason Favorite

WNEC Golden Bears logo. (Photo Credit: New England D3 College Baseball)

WNEC Golden Bears logo. (Photo Credit: New England D3 College Baseball)

By Matt Noonan 

The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) released its baseball preseason rankings today and Western New England College was tabbed as the squad to finish atop the standings.

WNEC received 77 points in the preseason poll and seven of nine first place votes. The Golden Bears return seven starters along with 23 letterman, according to the release and are primed for a postseason run.

Endicott College was projected to finish the season in the second and received two first place votes, while Curry College was picked to finish fourth.

For more information on CCC baseball and the preseason release — HOP HERE.

Feb 17 2013

Mass. College Hockey: Nichols Beats WNE, Clinches Second Place In ECAC Northeast

By NoontimeSports.com 

Courtesy of the Nichols College sports information department, here’s this evening’s release about the men’s ice hockey team that topped Western New England College and claimed second place in the upcoming ECAC Northeast tournament:

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. – Sophomore Joe Sposit (Cleveland, Ohio) and first-year Tyler Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.) each had a goal and an assist as the Nichols College men’s ice hockey team defeated visiting Western New England, 4-1, in an ECAC Northeast showdown at Levy Rink. With the win, Nichols (16-7-1, 9-3-1 ECACNE) clinches second place in the league standings and a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. The Bison will host a home game on Wednesday, Feb. 27th at 8:10 p.m. against an opponent to be decided during the opening round on Saturday, Feb. 23. Western New England claims a home game in the first round and will wait until the end of Tuesday’s games to learn their opponent.

First-year Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) made 14 saves en route to his 10th victory of the season (10-5-1) for the most victories by a Bison rookie goaltender since Keith Fink ’09 won 16 games in his inaugural season in 2005-2006. Sophomore Brett Jackson (Larchmont, N.Y.) pitched in with a pair of helpers.

Sophomore Chris Gularte (Salinas, Calif.) potted a power play goal with a wrister from the point that found its way through traffic. Jackson and senior Danny Greiner (Columbus, Ohio) each had a helper on the tally at 5:13 in the first. Later in the frame, junior Brian Prost (Parma, Ohio) buried a shot from the left circle off a feed from junior John Kelly (Staten Island, N.Y.) to even the game with a power play goal at 15:51. Nichols claimed a commanding 22-4 lead in shots as each side capitalized on an extra man opportunity.

First-year Tyler Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.) snapped the 1-alll tie midway through the second period as he finished off a series of rebounds after shots by classmate Frank Butler (East Haven, Conn.) and sophomore Joe Sposit (Cleveland, Ohio) at 10:46. The Bison outshot the visitors 18-5 in the frame and took advantage of a power play opportunity.

Sposit and sophomore Mike Schwartz (Long Beach, N.Y.) struck 1:31 apart to extend the Bison lead. At 6:10, Beasley and sophomore Kyle Shapiro (Ambler, Pa.) as Schwartz beat the goaltender on the stick side for his first goal of the season. Jackson and senior Bryan Gill (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) each had a stick Nichols fourth goal of the evening with 12:19 left in the game.

Western New England junior Eric Sorenson (Fairport, N.Y.) turned aside 48 shots in the setback for the Golden Bears as he fell to 5-7-0 on the season.

Nichols closes out the regular season with a 7:35 p.m. game at Curry on Tuesday night.

Nov 29 2012

Mass. College Hockey: Leftovers From WNEC’s 3-2 Victory Against Becker

WNEC Golden Bears logo. (Photo Credit: New England D3 College Baseball)

By Matt Noonan 

Western New England College’s men’s ice hockey team captured their fourth ECAC Northeast Hockey conference victory against Becker College on Wednesday, and below are a few leftover thoughts from the game.

Becker’s Power Play Struggles: After their win against Nichols College in the Worcester City Shootout Tournament last weekend, Don Kane told me that the Ice Hawks were focused on capitalizing on power play opportunities. Unfortunately, though, the Ice Hawks finished the game 1-of-7 with the extra skater.

WNEC netted two goals on five power plays, which proved to be the difference.

The Ice Hawks will have a few days to address this issue before they return to the ice on Saturday for a critical game against Wentworth Institute of Technology.

The Play Of Tim Carr: WNEC’s goaltender Tim Carr picked up his third win last night between the pipes. And despite allowing two goals, he made some fantastic saves with his glove and pads, which frazzled the Ice Hawks offense.

Through three games this season Carr has faced 102 shots and saved 98 of them. Expect to see more of the sophomore going forward, especially if his superb play continues.

Points In The Standings: With the win, WNEC improves to 4-0 in conference play and 5-2 overall. They also picked up two more points and now have eight in the standings.

Becker has defeated a conference foe (Nichols College) in tournament play, but that didn’t count toward their actual conference record. They have yet to register a win in the ECAC Northeast and desperately need one.

Graham’s Great Effort: One of the biggest takeaways from this game was the effort displayed by Becker’s David Graham. The senior forward was spotted all over the ice and assisted his team on numerous offensive rushes.

However, his biggest contribution came at 6:50 in the third period when he followed his shot from the far circle, which bounced off Carr’s pads. The puck then landed in front of the netminder, which allowed Graham the opportunity to rush the net and score his sixth goal of the season.

Other Notes: Becker and WNEC each fired 30 shots on net. The Ice Hawks recorded 14 penalty minutes compared to the Golden Bears’ 18.

Becker’s Greg Hussey saved 27 shots in the loss and now has a record of 2-4 between the pipes.

Oct 27 2012

Mass. College Football: Endicott Defeats WNEC, 50-45 (Press Release)

By NoontimeSports.com

Courtesy of our friends from Endicott College’s athletic department — here is today’s press release pertaining toward the Gulls exciting 50-45 victory against Western New England College.

For more information on the Gulls football team — HOP HERE.

BEVERLY, Mass. – The 100th game for the Endicott football program was a memorable one as the Gulls exchanged offensive blows with their NEFC Boyd Division rival Western New England but came out on top 50-45 to improve to 7-2 (5-1 NEFC Boyd) on the season.

For the second week in-a-row, sophomore quarterback Drew Frenette (New Bedford, Mass.) connected with his favorite receiver, senior Mike Murphy (Chelmsford, Mass.), 11 times for 139 yards and a new program record five touchdown receptions under the lights at Endicott Stadium.  When Murphy brushed off his defender and scampered into the end zone 35 yards for his fourth touchdown with 8:58 remaining in the second quarter, not only did he break the single game record for touchdown catches but he also passed Ryan MacLean (’07) for Endicott’s career receiving yards mark.

Murphy ended up catching five of Frenette’s six touchdown passes, also a new Endicott record.  The sophomore signal-caller finished 27-of-39 for 342 yards, six touchdowns, and one pick.  His sixth touchdown of the game came with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter as he found tight end Greg Dellorco (Franklin, Mass.) wide open for 42 yards up the middle of the field to put the Blue and Green ahead 45-31.

Not to be outdone, Endicott senior running back Mike Wheeler (Hanover, Mass.) provided an effective all-around game as well as he surpassed Mike Lane’s (’12) single-game all-purpose yards record with 288 total yards against Western New England on Saturday evening.   Wheeler rushed 23 times for 123 yards, returned six kickoffs a total of 161 yards and caught one pass for four yards.

Despite numerous offensive records being broken for the second straight week, Western New England amassed 579 total yards of offense in the game. Sophomore tailback Kevin Cook (Hamburg, N.J.) took the ball 31 times for 192 yards and two touchdowns while junior quarterback John Krafick (New Milford, Conn.) threw for 323 yards and four scores through the air.

The Golden Bears started the game with an 14-play, 79-yard opening drive that resulted in a 16-yard touchdown reception by junior tight end Mike Uszakiewicz (Prospect, Conn.) from Krafick. Endicott answered on their first drive as Murphy kept one foot in the corner of the end zone to complete a 13-yard touchdown pass from Frenette.

Later in the first quarter with great field position to start their drive, Murphy caught touchdown number two from nine  yards out to put Endicott ahead 14-7.  The Gulls defense forced Western New England to punt to start the second quarter and five plays into their first drive of the new period, Murphy was back in the end zone after another near sideline grab from 24 yards out.

The Golden Bears fired back with a 10-play, 83-yard drive that saw Uszakiewicz catch his second touchdown of the game from Krafick, a 19-yard reception to pull within seven at 21-14.

Murphy’s record-breaking, 35-yard touchdown catch put the Blue and Green back up by two scores but Cook pounded the ball into the end zone from three yards out to make it 28-21 with 3:02 left in opening half. Endicott would go into halftime up 31-21 after junior Dylan Rushe (Palos Verdes, Calif.) drilled a 24-yard field goal with only seconds remaining in the half.

Momentum shifted Western New England’s way at the start of the third quarter after Endicott’s first play from scrimmage was a fumble that was recovered by the Golden Bears at the Gulls 32 yard line. The very next play, Krafick found sophomore wide out Andrew Walz (Groton, Conn.) for a 32-yard touchdown to pull within three at 31-28.

Murphy’s final touchdown, a Golden Bears field goal, then Dellorco’s 42-yard touchdown reception put the Blue and Green on top 45-31 with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter. Cook scored his second touchdown, a hard-fought eight-yard score to trim Endicott’s lead down to seven points heading into the final 15 minutes of the game.

Early in the fourth quarter, Wheeler got Endicott down to the Western New England 15-yard line after a 26-yard rush. The Gulls settled for Rushe’s second field goal of the game but Endicott held a 48-38 lead with 11:51 to go.

After Rushe pinned the Golden Bears deep into their own territory courtesy of an Endicott record 69-yard punt, the Gulls defense forced a fumble in the backfield inside the five yard line.  Western New England recovered in their won end zone, resulting in a safety and two points for Endicott. Junior defensive lineman Marcell Cooper(Dorchester, Mass.) forced the fumble in the backfield.

Western New England would score one more time on Walz’ second TD catch of the game as the sophomore finished with six catches, 135 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Endicott squashed Western New England’s hopes for a final drive touchdown as senior linebacker Peter Kallas (Beverly, Mass.) made a diving interception on a Krafick pass to effectively end the game.

The defense was led by Cooper who had a team-high 13 tackles, eight of which were solo, one tackle for a loss and a forced fumble.  Junior defensive back Jason Silva (Palatine, Ill.) had 10 tackles with a pass breakup and three other players, PJ Bandini (Waltham, Mass.), Kallas, and Andrew Holfinger (Sterling, Mass.) all added nine tackles each. Junior defensive back Andrew Lawson (Framingham, Mass.) had three pass breakups to lead all players.

For the Golden Bears, junior linebacker Nathan Fleming (Willimantic, Conn.) had a game-high 16 takedowns, nine of which were solo, while forcing and recovering a fumble. Andrew Imperatore (Wyckoff, N.J.) added 11 tackles in the loss. Senior defensive back Corey Brown (Worcester, Mass.) had Western New England’s lone interception with a 15-yard return.

Endicott will close out the regular season on Saturday, November 3rd at home for Senior Day as the Gulls will honor 15 seniors on the roster.  Endicott hosts MIT at 5:00 pm at Endicott Stadium.  Western New England closes out their regular season at home against UMass Dartmouth at 1:00 pm next Saturday.

Aug 20 2012

Catching Up With Coach Emery (WNEC) Pt. II

WNEC Golden Bears logo. (Photo Credit: New England D3 College Baseball)

By NoontimeSports.com 

Here is part two of our conversation with Western New England College’s head football coach Keith Emery.

On takeaways and turnovers last season: “I hope to see improvement, but we had a really good takeaway number last year at the end of the regular season [because] we led the nation in interceptions, so I don’t know if we’re going to top that again, but I think we had 24 at the end of the regular season.”

On duplicating the team’s offense from last year: “I don’t know if we’re going to be the same style offense from last year, especially with a different guy at the helm. Like I said, we want to do a better job of going after it for 60 minutes instead of waiting for the last minute. We want to be better in the first five minutes [of a game] and throughout the first 60 than having to rely on Bryce’s skills in the last minute, so I think if we do the things we’re supposed to do and capable of [then] I think those [rankings/statistics] from last year can go up.”

On the impact of Michael Graham on special teams: “I don’t expect guys to be kicking to Michael very much, so we have to prepare some different contingencies in case people are just kicking away from [him] all the time. We’ll have to figure out some ways, but I hope we’re not receiving too many kicks and I don’t think Michael’s going to get too many opportunities, but we’re going to try and find some places for him to see the field more because he’s just a special kid and his speed is great, and his determination is unbelievable.”

On the team’s strongest unit entering the season: “Our defensive backfield. We return everybody back there. Two starting corners, our starting safety and then some depth their too, so our defensive backfield is by far the strongest point of the team.

On the team’s defense: “We lost [a few linebackers due to] graduation, two inside backers and an outside backer, so that’s an element of concern and some area’s of where there’s going to be some competition, but defensively I like our skillset, I like the kids we have there, so I’m pretty excited about what we can do on that side of the ball.”

On the team’s first NCAA championship appearance: “Well, we have a little bit of a little brother syndrome down the street. Springfield College is a mile and half down the street, so we’ve been playing in their shadow for the last 30 years, and we’re real excited about the opportunity to play those guys next year, so our first goal is to be the best team in the city, and let the chips fall where they may after that, but recruiting has gotten better. The incoming group that we have right now [has made our coaching staff really excited] and it’s a different a talent level completely than the guys we were recruiting [before I arrived] here, and I think personally that was a great deal of humble pie that I ate the first couple years here, and it’s definitely changed our outlook and how we situate our self from week-to-week. The lessons that we’ve learned here early on in our program has gone a long way toward helping our success now.”

On three goals for a successful season: “It’s game by game, but we’ve got to do a better job in the third quarter. We were dismal in the third quarter last year, and that’s one of our big focuses. Go through some of the adjustments, and really make the third quarter ours. [We’d also like] to outscore our opponents, 2-1 in the third quarter. [Also], I don’t put a win-loss record on anything [because] that’s not our goal here, but we just want to get better every single day. So, improve in the third quarter, get better at every single game, make sure we’re better in game 10 than in game one, and stay healthy. We practice a little bit differently here to make sure we stay healthy and making sure that our best players our on the field in every game of the season.”

Aug 16 2012

Players To Watch In 2012: Corey Brown (WNEC)

Expect a big year for the rising senior defensive back, Corey Brown! (Photo Credit: Western New England College Athletics)

By Matt Noonan 

Our ‘Players to Watch’ this season continue with Western New England College senior defensive back Corey Brown, who is an All-New England Football Conference performer in the classroom and on the gridiron.

Resume:

* Brown grew up in Worcester and played high school football at Holy Name.

* He was one of two players to record three interceptions in 2009.

* In 2010, he led the secondary with 10 break-ups, (meaning, he deflected 10 passes by opposing quarterbacks).

2011 Highlights:

* He finished the season with four interceptions for 13 yards. Yet, he did not reach the end zone. Also, he recovered two fumbles last season, but did not register a single yard afterward.

* In 12 games, which included the ECAC Div. III championship against Salisbury State, Brown tallied 24 solo tackles, 16 assisted tackles and 40 total.

2012 Outlook: Last season, the Golden Bears relied heavily on their defense, which yielded a few conference foes to 10 points of less. However, once the final whistle was blown, Brown and his defensive counterparts finished their campaign second in passing defense and first in interceptions with 24.

Brown has been a critical component of head coach Keith Emery’s defense, especially since he’s exhibited leadership on and off the field. And this season, he’ll certainly be a player to target.

Excluding Brown, WNEC also has another reliable corner by the name of Alex Miller, who is a rising senior that finished last season with five interceptions. If Emery can have both players on the same page for the entire game, then it’ll be a long day for opposing offensive coordinators.

Look for the defense to carry the Golden Bears this season, especially with the graduating loss of quarterback Bryce Brown, who Emery noted as the team’s sparkplug from a year ago. Brown will most likely be one of the leaders in interceptions this year with either four or five, and most likely tally 30-40 tackles.

Aug 9 2012

NSCAA Unveils Preseason Soccer Poll

(Photo Credit: HowToDrawFunnyCartoons.com)

By NoontimeSports.com 

On Tuesday, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, (NSCAA) unveiled its first soccer rankings of the season, and a few local squads earned spots in the various divisional lists.

Here are the men and women’s teams that received preseason recognition.

Men’s Soccer:

* In Division I, Boston College was the only squad from Massachusetts to earn a spot in the Top 25 at No. 14, while Brown University secured a spot as the No. 22 team in the country. The Eagles finished their 2011 season with 14 wins, and 15th in the country.

* The only local squad to secure a spot in the Div. II Top 25 was Southern New Hampshire. The Penmen are ranked seventh, and ended their campaign last year with 18 wins. They’ll be the squad to beat in the NE-10 this fall.

* Three teams earned preseason honors in the Division III rankings. Amherst College was listed at No. 6, Babson at No. 18 and Western New England College at No. 23. The Lord Jeffs finished their season with 16 wins, and 10th in the final rankings.

Women’s Soccer:

* Similar to the men’s soccer team, the Boston College women’s squad will begin their season as the No. 11 team in the country. After them, their local rival, Boston University is slated as the No. 23 team in the land.

* Even though they were not ranked, Harvard’s women’s soccer team is one of a few squads receiving votes.

* In Div. II, UMass-Lowell was the only squad to receive a preseason rank at No. 17. Merrimack College, similar to Harvard, is receiving votes.

* Amherst College will begin the season as the No. 7 team in Div. III, while Williams College was slotted at No. 13 and Springfield College at No. 25.

Jul 16 2012

WNEC’s Graham Selected To D3Football.com Pre-Season All-American Team

By NoontimeSports.com 

D3Football.com recently released their first and second pre-season All-American teams, and only one senior from a Massachusetts college earned a spot on the list.

Western New England College senior Mike Graham, who is a return specialist, was tabbed as a first team member. Graham was the only member selected from the New England Football Conference (NEFC). He also became the first Golden Bear in school history selected to this particular team, too.

Last season, Graham totaled 830 all-purpose yards and recorded six touchdowns in 12 games.

The senior was also selected to the 2012 BSN Division III Preseason All-America First Team as a kickoff return specialist.

For more on both the first and second pre-season teams – CLICK HERE.