BOSTON, Mass. – Junior midfielder Liam Bokanovich (Sandwich, Mass.) tallied a career-high five goals and senior midfielder Marty O'Brien (West Springfield, Mass.) added three goals to help pace the Western New England men's lacrosse team to an 18-7 win over Wentworth in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference contest at Sweeney Field.
The Golden Bears took an early, 2-0 lead as senior midfielder Colin Houlihan (Ledyard, Conn.) and classmate Mike Santare (South Salem, N.Y.) scored within 1:13 of each other. However, the Leopards battled back to tie the game with 7:12 left in the quarter as sophomore midfielder Mark Pappas (Worcester, Mass.) and freshman attackman Jeff Guilherme (Derry, N.H.) scored for the hosts.
With 4:11 left in the quarter, Bokanovich put home his first marker of the contest which would begin a 9-0 run for Western New England, which would hold Wentworth without a goal for a span of 26:40. During the run Bokanovich had a total of three goals and sophomore attackman Corrigan Harreys (Deep River, Conn.) added two.
The Leopards ended the drought with 7:31 left in the third quarter on a senior attackman Chris Guilherme (Derry, N.H.) goal, which cut the lead to 12-3. The Golden Bears countered with three straight to extend the lead to 15-3 with 12:46 remaining in the contest. Freshman midfielder Max Blum (New Fairfield, Conn.), Jeff Guilherme, and Chris Guilherme scored in a span of 3:12 to trim the lead to 15-6 but Western New England used a pair of goals from Bokanovich and a tally from O'Brien to put the visitors ahead by double digits for good.
Harreys and Santare each finished with two goals and an assist to round out Western New England's multiple-goal scorers. Freshman attackman Adam Knapton (Canandaigua, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Patrick White (Milton, Mass.) each had a goal and two assists while junior attackman Andrew Mariani (East Brunswick, N.J.) had two assists. Junior midfielder Joe Martin (Springfield, Mass.) won 10-of-13 face-offs and he and Knapton picked up a team-high five ground balls.
Chris Guilherme led the Leopards' offense with two goals and an assist, while Jeff Guilherme tallied a pair of goals. Junior midfielder Mike Swenson (East Lyme, Conn.) picked up a game-high seven ground balls.
Three different Western New England players saw action between the pipes. Junior Brewster Knowlton (Somers, Conn.) picked up the win, making eight saves in 50:53 of work. Senior Brian Hanno (Lowville, N.Y.) and freshman David Toporek (New City, N.Y.) didn't need to make a save over the final 9:07. Wentworth freshman Jeff Bathalon (Maynard, Mass.) made 11 saves over the first 45:00, while sophomore Matt O'Connor (Duxbury, Mass.) made one save in the fourth quarter. The Golden Bears held a 45-28 shot advantage and a 47-30 ground ball advantage.
With the win the Golden Bears improve to 11-4 overall and 9-0 in TCCC play. Western New England hosts Endicott in a first-place showdown on Saturday at 4:00. Wentworth falls to 1-9 (0-9) and is at Anna Maria on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
