SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 2, 2017) – The Western New England University men's lacrosse team built a four-goal second half lead and held off the University of New England for a 9-7 victory on Sunday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Golden Bear Stadium. Top Performers • Junior Keegan Dudeck (Longmeadow, Mass.) continued his strong stretch of play with a team-high five points on two goals and three assists, marking his third consecutive 5+ point performance. • Junior Nicholas Beauchamp (Wilbraham, Mass.) and sophomore Jared Ward (Littleton, Mass.) recorded three points each with two goals and one assist. • Junior goalie Steven Kerr (Hopkinton, Mass.) finished with 14 saves on 21 shots. • Senior Dan Auger (Nashua, N.H.) had a hand in six of UNE's seven goals, as he scored three himself and assisted on three others. Game Review • Sophomores Mitch Mullin (Cumberland, Maine) and Alex Zadworny (Florence, Mass.) netted goals at the 11:30 and 8:26 marks of the first quarter, respectively, as the Nor'easters opened up a 2-0 lead. • Freshman Nick Gamba (East Islip, N.Y.) got the Golden Bears on the board with 7:37 on the clock and senior Frank Medlicott (Stanwood, Wash.) scored a man-up goal nine seconds later, before Dudeck gave Western New England its first lead with 5:46 remaining in the opening quarter. • Auger registered his third assist of the frame on a goal by freshman Colin Morrow (Nashua, N.H.) with just under five minutes to go as the Nor'easters tied the score at 3-3. • Ward restored Western New England's lead on a feed from Dudeck at the 11:19 mark of the second period, and the Golden Bears led by the same margin (6-5) at halftime. • Western New England was able to gain some separation in the third quarter, as the Golden Bears dominated possession and limited UNE to just two shots in the frame. Freshman Liam Baker (Mount Laurel, N.J.) tallied his sixth goal of the season early in the period, and Beauchamp added goals at 10:58 and 5:37 as the hosts opened up a 9-5 lead heading into the fourth. • Auger scored twice in the fourth quarter, but the Nor'easters were unable to complete the comeback as the Western New England defense shut out UNE over the final 8:28 of regulation. Notes • The Golden Bears outshot the Nor'easters 39-35, while UNE held a 26-23 edge in ground balls. • Dudeck has recorded 17 points over his last three games and is now tied with Beauchamp for the team lead with 24.