The University of Hartford men’s lacrosse team will play against Western New England University in the Conference of New England (CNE) tournament semifinals, according to an April 28 announcement. The matchup follows Hartford’s recent 12-6 victory over Nichols College in the first round.
This game is significant as Hartford seeks to avenge a previous overtime loss to Western New England earlier in the regular season. The Hawks, seeded third with an overall record of 11-5 and a conference record of 7-2, will travel to Golden Bear Stadium in Springfield for this important contest against the second-seeded Bears, who are 11-6 overall and hold an 8-1 conference mark.
Hartford’s offense has been led by junior Michael Novotny with 57 points this season, supported by sophomore Shaun Wright who leads the conference with 36 assists. Junior captain Aidan Ezra and junior Colin Reilly have also contributed significantly on attack. Defensively, graduate student Nick DiDomizio has recorded twelve caused turnovers and scored a key point in round one, while senior Tobias Ballester added ten caused turnovers and fifty ground balls. In goal, junior CJ Ledwick holds a record of nine wins and four losses with one hundred twelve saves.
Western New England finished their season strong with two important wins at the end of April. Their offense is led by Jacob Roy with thirty-nine goals and twenty-nine assists; Logan Jenkins also contributed twenty-eight goals. Defensively, David Noel posted twenty-two caused turnovers along with sixty-seven ground balls.
Historically, Hartford is one win and two losses all-time against Western New England University but has yet to secure a victory when playing away at Springfield. The last win came at home last season on April nineteenth.
The Conference of New England was founded as the Commonwealth Coast Conference in nineteen eighty-four before being reconstituted under its current name in twenty-twenty-four. It includes eleven full member institutions across New England competing in NCAA Division III athletics.
