WNEU Drop Men’s Hockey, 4-3

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Hockey team returned to the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink, welcoming the Western New England University Golden Bears for a non-conference clash. The Trailblazers rallied back from a two goal deficit but couldn't hold off WNEU, falling 4-3.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025
• Score: WNEU 4, MCLA 3
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 1-5-2 (MASCAC 0-2-1) | Western New England University 1-6-0 (CNE 0-4-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The game remained scoreless through nearly the first 35 minutes of play. With just over five minutes left in the second period, WNEU's Camille Marcoux (14:53 of 2^nd period, assisted by Gavin Mastrodonato) scored the only goal of the first two periods.
• Following the first two periods being defensive struggles despite the teams combining for 49 shots on goal (a 13-4 advantage for the Golden Bears in the first, and 16 shots each by both teams in the second), the final period saw an outburst of scoring.
• The first goal of the period came on a power play opportunity for WNEU Brayden Patricia (PP, 3:51 of 3^rd period, Kuznetsov) who doubled the visitor's lead to 2-0.
• MCLA started to rally back with freshman forward Sam Perdion (Strongsville, OH / Charlotte Rush) (PP, 8:28 of 3^rd period, Smith) notching the first goal of his collegiate career, taking advantage of the Trailblazers holding a man advantage and a give and go pass from fellow freshman forward Jacob Smith (Medford, NJ / Philadelphia H.C.).
• A little over 90 seconds later the Trailblazers completely eliminated the road team's lead, when junior defenseman Spencer Craig (Glendale, AZ / Northern Cyclones) (10:03 of 3^rd period, Smith) scored by firing off a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle on a pass from Smith. The goal was the first of the season for Craig, while the assist was second of the night and season for Smith.
• The tie was short lived because the Golden Bears pushed their lead back out to two goals for the second time due to goals by Stepan Kuznetsov (11:24 of 3^rd period, Michael Bottrell) and Philippe Longchamps (16:27 of 3^rd, Bottrell & Kuznetsov).
• Barely a minute later, MCLA reinstalled the sense of intrigue around the rink when junior forward Quinn Murphy (Champaign, IL / Philadelphia H.C.) won a faceoff from the right side circle, sending the puck back to junior forward Cade Herrera (Brentwood, CA / Seahawks H.C) along the boards. Herrera sent the puck back to freshman defenseman Kieran Kenny (Edmonton, AB / Philadelphia H.C.) at the point. Kenny (17:29 of 3^rd period, Herrera & Murphy) skated parallel to the blue line and to center up on the net, and launched a rocket that the WNEU goalie got a piece of, but the shot still had enough momentum to trickle across the goal line before the netminder could dive back to stop it. The goal was the first of Kenny's collegiate career while the assists were the first and third for Herrera and Murphy, respectively.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: WNEU 45, MCLA 29
• Saves: WNEU 26, MCLA 41
• Faceoffs Won: WNEU 38, MCLA 43
• Penalty/Minutes: WNEU 4/8:00, MCLA 4/8:00
• Power Plays: WNEU 1 for 3, MCLA 1 for 3

UP NEXT:

MCLA will be back in action on Thursday, December 4th when hosts Rivier University at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink for a MASCAC matchup with the Raiders. The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m.

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