THE BASICS

-Score: Western New England 2, Clark University 1

-Records: WNEU (7-3-2), Clark (8-3)

-Location: Springfield, Mass. (Suprenant Field)

-The Lead: The Clark University men's soccer team dropped a non-conference, road matchup with the Golden Bears of Western New England University on Wednesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

-Western New England and Clark played a scoreless opening half, but the Golden Bears nearly pulled ahead late in the period when sophomore forward Joseph Fortuna (Burlington, Conn.) struck the crossbar with a shot from 30 yards out.

-Early in the second half, sophomore forward Matt Remillard (Palmer, Mass.) put an attempt just wide of the goal and sophomore defender Dan Bronke (South Deerfield, Mass.) had his header saved by Clark sophomore goalkeeper Melvin Vincent (Rochester, Mass.) following a Western New England corner kick.

- In the 63rd minute, the Golden Bears finally broke through when junior Dante Cancellaro (Watertown, Conn.) sent in a cross from the right side and Connor Prindle (Shelton, Conn.) guided the ball into the goal with his chest.

- Less than six minutes later, however, the Cougars equalized on Sean Munroe's (Silver Spring, Md.) team-leading ninth goal of the season. Junior Caleb Urrutia (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) sent a cross into the box and classmate Evan Jurkowski (Ludlow, Mass.) headed the ball to Munroe, who tapped it past Western New England senior goalkeeper Sam Brewer (Westford, Mass.) to tie the contest.

-The Golden Bears took the lead for good in the 74th minute. Following a Western New England corner kick, Nick Kubacki (Belchertown, Mass.)  headed the ball to Claflin at the near post, where he fired a shot past sophomore goalie Marco White (Manhattan Beach, Calif.). 

-Clark had one final opportunity to equalize again late, but Kubacki slid across the goal line to prevent sophomore Patrick Clark's (Plainville, Mass.) shot from finding the back of the net in the 85th minute.

INSIDE THE NUMBER

-Western New England outshot Clark 19-7, including 13-4 in the second half.

-Brewer made two saves for the Golden Bears, while Vincent and White combined to stop five shots for the Cougars.

UP NEXT

Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, as Western New hosts Gordon and Clark travels to Coast Guard.