THE BASICS:
 
- Score: Western New England University 16, MIT 8
 
- Records: MIT (1-1); Western New England (2-1)
 
- Location: Springfield, Mass. (Golden Bear Stadium)
 
- The Lead: A five-goal run during the second quarter helped Western New England University pull away and eventually capture a 16-8 victory over MIT in a non-conference men's lacrosse game on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Garrett Campagna (Lancaster, Pa.) and senior Heath Nilsen (Carlsbad, Calif.) both produced two goals and an assist for the Engineers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Western New England controlled the action in the opening frame as it generated four unanswered goals.
 
- MIT cut its deficit in half courtesy of goals by junior Nick Stiles (New Canaan, Conn.) and Nilsen during the first 1:08 of the second quarter. The Golden Bears quickly increased their cushion to 5-2, however, sophomore Zach Bleil (New Canaan, Conn.) found senior Bennett Stankovits (Rumson, N.J.) at the 10:13 mark, keeping the Engineers within striking distance. Western New England responded with five straight goals, entering halftime with a 10-3 advantage.
 
- The hosts generated a 4-3 scoring edge in the third quarter to maintain their comfortable margin. Campagna was a factor in two of the Engineers' goals as he earned an assist on a strike by Stankovits with 4:45 on the clock and then buried a solo effort with 44 seconds remaining. First-year Ashton Axe (Portola Valley, Calif.) accounted for MIT's third goal as he found the back of the net 35 seconds after Stankovits.
 
- Both teams posted two goals in the fourth quarter, resulting in the 16-8 final. Campagna redirected a feed from Nilsen early in the period while Nilsen connected on a pass from Bleil for a man-up tally with 1:29 remaining.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Stankovits and Bleil both notched one goal and one assist as first-year Christian Biggins (Duxbury, Mass.) posted two groundballs and one caused turnover. Junior Matthew Sardis (Bernardsville, N.J.) won eight of his 19 faceoff attempts and collected four groundballs. In net, graduate student David Vapnek (San Diego, Calif.) amassed a career-high 16 saves.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT will host Endicott College on Wednesday, March 5 at 4:00 p.m.
 
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