UNION, N.J.  (3/12/11) – Sophomore midfielder Ryan Buerkle and freshman attack Todd Petrone scored nearly two minutes apart in the fourth quarter as Kean University slipped past Western Connecticut, 8-6 at Alumni Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Petrone finished with two goals while goalkeeper Lane Zierten (pictured left) stopped seven shots as the Cougars won their second straight and improved to 3-1 on the season.

Junior attack Sean Macey scored three times and assisted on two other goals for the Colonials, who fell to 1-2 on the year.

Kean never trailed in the contest however the Cougars saw a 4-1 lead early in the third quarter evaporate as WestConn scored three times to tie the game early in the fourth.   J. C. Flaherty scored the first goal with 12:09 left and Ryan Foster netted an unassisted tally with two minutes to play in the third before Macey's first goal of the game 18 seconds into the fourth knotted the game at 4-4.

Kean would regain the lead less than a minute later as Petrone scored off an assist from Nicholas Cestaro, however Macey answered 1:41 later to forge the second tie at 5-5.

A penalty on the Colonials led to Brad Mills' go-ahead goal with 9:50 play as Kean jumped back in front. But that lead would be short-lived as a Cougar penalty seconds later led to Macey's man-up tally with 9:03 on the clock as the Colonials knotted the game at 6-6.

Buerkle's (pictured right) goal with 5:31 left off a feed from Tom Clifford put Kean back on top to stay. Petrone then added what turned out to be an insurance goal with 3:29 remaining for the final margin.

Cestaro had two assists for the Cougars, who outshot WestConn, 41-19 in the game, including a 27-4 margin in the first half. Justin Lappen had five face off wins while Bo Scavone and Petrone each had four ground balls.

Tyler Martone posted 10 saves for the Colonials. Eric Small was 10-of-15 on faceoffs while Brandon Marszalek added five ground balls. Tim Schweitzer led all players with seven ground balls.