BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - The Bridgewater University football team will be making its second appearance in the New England Bowl as the Bears will host Catholic University on Saturday (Nov. 19) at noon from Swenson Field.

Under the guidance of Head Coach Joe Verria (35th Year, 7th as Head Coach), the Bears earned a spot in the New England Bowl after posting a 6-4 regular season record and finishing in a three-way tie for second place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) standings with a 6-2 MASCAC mark. After dropping its first three games of 2022, Bridgewater went 6-1 to close out the regular season.

Bridgewater also hosted the New England Bowl in 2018 when the Bears defeated Salve Regina University, 34-19.

Catholic is in its final season as a member of the New England Women’s & Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). Under the guidance of Head Coach Mike Gutelius (6th Year), the Cardinals went 6-4 during the regular season and placed second in the NEWMAC standings with a 5-1 conference record. This will be Catholic's first bowl game appearance since 2008 when the Cardinals beat Johns Hopkins in the ECAC Southeast Bowl by a score of 18-17.

Saturday's matchup between Bridgewater State and Catholic will be the first meeting of the teams.

Live Stats and webcast will be available for Saturday's New England Bowl. between the Bears and the Cardinals.

The New England Bowl series is in its sixth year. Husson University will host Plymouth State University in the other New England Bowl matchup. Husson is a member of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) while Plymouth State competes out of the MASCAC.

New England Bowl All-Time Series

• 2016: Framingham State 37, Salve Regina 34 (at Middletown, R.I.)
• 2017: Framingham State 48, Curry 14 (at Framingham, Mass.)
• 2017: WPI 17, SUNY Maritime 3 (at Worcester, Mass.)
• 2018: Bridgewater State 34, Salve Regina 19 (at Bridgewater, Mass.)
• 2018: Merchant Marine 38, Endicott 22 (at Beverly, Mass.)
• 2018: Springfield 17, SUNY Maritime 14 (at Springfield, Mass.)
• 2019: Endicott 52, Dean 10 (at Beverly, Mass.)
• 2019: WPI 35, Western Connecticut State 6 (at Worcester, Mass.)
• 2021: Merchant Marine 63, Western New England 35 (at Springfield, Mass.)
• 2021: UMass Dartmouth 42, Alfred State 16 (at Dartmouth, Mass.)