Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Western New England College raced out to seven first period goals and cruised to an 18-3 The Commonwealth Coast Conference victory over the University of New England in men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Bears, ranked ninth in the latest USILA poll, raise their record to 8-2 overall and stay perfect in conference play at 5-0.  The Nor'easters are now 5-4 overall, 1-3 in TCCC games.

Senior Scott Kukis (Sudbury, Mass.) scored the first of his two goals just 1:48 into the contest to give the hosts a lead they would not relinquish.

WNEC would go on to score six more times in the stanza, with Kukis and first-year Nick Jez (Somers, Conn.) each tallying both of their goals in the period.

UNE senior Eric Santos (Jamestown, R.I.) found the back of the net at the 11:41 mark of the second period to make the score 7-1, but the Golden Bears notched four more goals before halftime to hold an 11-1 advantage at the break.

Senior Dan Leyden (Northfield, Mass.) scored the first goal of the third period off a pass from sophomore Steve Smith (Walpole, Mass.), but WNEC again responded with a string of six goals to win going away.

Six Western New England players scored at least two goals -- sophomore Marty O'Brien (West Springfield, Mass.) leading the way with three scores.

Junior Tim Santye (Skillman, N.J.), first-year Tyler Tannock (Barrington, R.I.), and classmate Patrick White (Milton, Mass.) recorded two goals apiece.

First-year Joe McCarthy (Billerica, Mass.) scored the other UNE goal in the fourth frame, and first-year goalie Nate Porter (Cohasset, Mass.) finished with 17 saves.

Three Golden Bears split time in goal -- Brewster Knowlton (Somers, Conn.), Jake Katz (Somersworth, N.H.), and Brian Hanno (Lowville, N.Y.) -- and combined to make nine saves.

The Nor'easters visit Wentworth Institute of Technology Tuesday for a conference match beginning at 7:00 p.m.  WNEC is set to host Salve Regina University on Wednesday.