SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Powered by a strong second-half effort, Western New England University defeated UMass Dartmouth in New England Bowl Series action at Golden Bear Stadium on Saturday afternoon. WNE concludes its season with an 8-3 overall mark, while the Corsairs conclude their outstanding season with a 9-2 record and their second New England Bowl appearance in the last three years.
The homestanding Golden Bears opened the game's scoring, grabbing a 2-0 lead on a safety at 6:48 of the opening quarter. The score remained the two-point differential until the third quarter as the Corsairs got on the board.
Driving the ball 70-yards down the field, a one-yard rush by graduate student running back
Luis Gonzalez gave UMass Dartmouth the 7-2 lead at the 10:44 mark of the game. The Golden Bears answered soon after as Dillon Kohl rushed 55-yards into the endzone to move it to a 9-7 advantage for the home team.
It was Kohl once again at 2:32, driving it in on a one-yard rush to put WNE up by a 16-7 margin, and the Golden Bears added another score with 45 seconds to play in the quarter as Conrad Swanson drove the ball in from 36-yards out for the 23-7 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Swanson answered once again for Western New England, this time with an 11-yard rush, while a 26-yard rushing score from Ryan Larson with 56 seconds to play concluded the scoring for both teams.
Swanson went 12-of-18 on the day at quarterback, posting 147 total yards. He also rushed for 100 yards with two touchdowns. Tyler Millerick came on for the final stretch, going 4-of-7 with 42 yards. Kohl was the top rusher for the Golden Bears, carrying the ball 13 times for 110 yards and two touchdowns. In the air, Larson had six catches for 57 yards.
Defensively, Joe Shea paced WNE with 11 tackles, including two solo. Four came at a loss of 18 yards, while also registering 1.5 sacks for 11 yards. Jake Chiasson had 10 tackes, including four solo. Four of his tackles were for a loss of 33 yards, while also notching 2.0 sacks for 17 yards.
The Corsairs saw senior quarterback
Dante Aviles-Santos go 13-of-25 for 132 yards in the game. Gonzalez finished with 19 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown, while junior wide receiver
Angel Sanchez had three catches for 43 yards on the afternoon.
Senior linebacker
Jackson Wellman paced the Corsairs defense, recording a game-high 12 tackles, including seven solo. He had two tackles for a loss of 12 yards with a sack for a loss of six yards. He also had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery with one quarterback hurry. Junior linebacker
Mike Henricksen finished with 10 tackles, including two solo. He notched 0.5 tackles for a loss of one yard – which was also a sack.
Fans can purchase gear from today's New England Bowl matchup at
https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/cp8p8oKsaX
