A lot has happened on Alden Street during the first two weeks of the Fall semester, with eight teams resuming action for the 2023 season.
Field Hockey
The Pride had a nice bounce-back after a rough start to the season. After dropping their first two games to Keene State and Western New England, head coach Mia Olsen’s squad grinded out a tough 1-0 win at Worcester State, with their one goal coming courtesy of Castleton transfer and graduate student Kaitlin Bardellini. The Pride rolled over Western Connecticut and Eastern Connecticut in their last two games, outscoring their two opponents 10-1. Offensively, the Pride have been led by Bardellini, senior Audrey Dolan and first-year Hailey Gaydos. In net, junior Neilee Hess posted shutouts in two of her three games, with a .909 save percentage. Most importantly, Springfield is 3-0 with Hess in net.
Men’s Soccer
Tommy Crabill’s team picked up their first win of the season on Tuesday against Curry College, with a goal courtesy of a Ryan Berecz first-half header. With the win, Springfield improved to 1-2-1. After opening the season with a tie on Brock-Affleck field against Albertus Magnus, the Pride lost their second and third games of the season to tough opponents, Vassar and Gordon. Despite having a young team, they hope the experience they are getting from these tough matchups can help them as NEWMAC conference play approaches at the end of September.
Women’s Soccer
The Springfield women’s soccer team has yet to be beaten during its first two weeks of action. After dominating Thomas 9-0 in their first game of the season, the Pride have yet to slow down. After a scoreless draw at Western New England, they drew again versus Western Connecticut. They followed that performance up with their second win of the season, against Farmingdale State. The Pride rallied after conceding an early goal to the Rams, with Kayla McGrath and Natalya Pennant scoring the two goals that gave the Pride the win and kept the unbeaten streak going.
Women’s Volleyball
After a clean three-set victory against Franklin & Marshall on Sept. 9, the women’s volleyball team is off to another successful season in head coach Moira Long’s 12th year at the helm. With the win, Springfield improved to 6-1. The Pride started well, sweeping their first four games, including winning nine of nine sets in the Springfield College invitational. Their one blemish is a five-set loss to SUNY Cortland, but they responded by winning both their matches on Sept. 9. Sophomore Maeve Voltz picked up some hardware along the way, as she was named NEWMAC Women’s Volleyball Defensive Athlete of the Week for week one.
Football
A home opener win against Husson propelled head coach Mike Cerasuolo’s squad to a 2-0 start as they look to make the postseason for the third straight year. As expected, the Pride have gotten the vast majority of their offensive success on the ground – rushing for 331 and 441 yards against Western New England and Husson, respectively. The Pride took home the Pynchon SAW trophy in their annual opening game against their crosstown rivals, beating Western New England 28-14. In their second game against Husson, the Pride dominated, with five players rushing for over 30 yards and four different players scoring touchdowns, including three total touchdowns by quarterback Jacob Silvester. The Pride have arguably their toughest opponent of the season up next in Union College, which handed the Pride a 21-6 loss last year.
Women’s Cross Country
In two meets so far this season the Pride have had some impressive performances. At the UMass Amherst Invitational, Springfield finished second of three teams, falling short of the hosts and edging out fellow Springfield team American International. In their second meet, the Pride finished fourth out of nine teams, in an event that consisted of six other NEWMAC teams, as well as Amherst College and Regis College. For individual performances, junior Maddie Shea was Springfield’s top finisher at the Amherst Invitational, with senior Kate Bonanno right behind her, and in the second meet, the two flip-flopped, with Bonanno finishing first for the Pride and Shea coming in as Springfield’s runner-up.
Men’s Cross Country
The men’s cross country team competed in the same two meets as the women’s team, and both teams had the same results. In Amherst, the Pride were runners up to the Minutemen while finishing ahead of AIC. And in the second meet at Smith, the Pride also finished fourth out of nine teams. Chris Vayda has had an amazing start to the season for Springfield, finishing sixth overall in Amherst and as the runner-up in the Smith Invitational in a field of 68 runners. He will look to improve on his performance when the Pride travel to Dartmouth, Mass, in their next meet on Sept.16.
Golf
The Springfield College golf team finished 20th out of 24 teams in their first event of the season, the Duke Nelson Invitational in Middlebury, Vt. Nick DeMaio was the Pride’s top golfer of the weekend, with a stellar second round on Sunday giving him a total score of 152 strokes, finishing tied for 38th. DeMaio was also named as the MASCAC Men’s Golfer of the week for his performance. David Girourd also finished in the top 100, as he finished tied for 83rd after shooting a 79 on both Saturday and Sunday, giving him a 158 for the weekend. Next weekend the Pride will head to the Northwest corner of Massachusetts, the Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass, to compete in the Williams Invitational.
Photo Courtesy of Springfield Athletics