By Owen Farley
@Owenfarley_18
Springfield men’s soccer bounced back from its two-game losing streak, earning a 3-1 win against Worcester State on Tuesday, under the bright lights of Brock-Affleck field.
The non-conference match started off slow for the Pride and Lancers, as each team was unable to make anything work offensively until nine minutes into the game. Worcester State mustered up the game’s first shot, but it wasn’t enough to test Springfield goalie Noah Pote.
The next twenty minutes were scrappy: a number of free kicks were awarded, but nothing on the offensive front would come from them.
With 9:26 left to go in the first half, Springfield midfielder Cole Sampson set up first-year midfielder Erving Henderson with the first goal of the match. A quick touch pass turned into a strike from Henderson, who nailed the ball into the back of the net.
Four minutes later, Jared Kelly sent in a cross from the right side of the pitch toward the box. Henderson flew in from the six yard line, heading home his second goal and doubling the Pride’s lead.
This was exactly the spark Springfield needed to get them going into halftime and for the rest of the game.
“We felt all the guys did their jobs to their fullest effort,” Springfield head coach Tommy Crabill said. “In moments timing wasn’t perfect and that can cause plays to break down, but they just kept plugging away and brought in a wave of more effort.”
Dropping two games on an away game stretch is always tough, but the Pride didn’t let this impact them tonight.
“Before the game we talked about playing with a certain type of passion, I think we went out here tonight and did exactly that,” midfielder Matthew Mela said.
In the second half of the contest it was all Springfield for the most part playing very good defensively while also keeping the ball in the Lancer side of the pitch.
“From a defensive standpoint once we get a couple of stops everyone seems that we’re confident in ourselves,” Brandon Trent said. “As we start going forward our confidence to take our shots and make good opportunities progresses.”
With 6:23 left to go in the game, Henderson ripped another shot but this time the goalkeeper got a hand to it. Fortunately for the Pride, first-year Cooper Harmon was in the right place at the right time to take a shot off of the deflection and put the ball into the bottom right corner and push the lead to 3-0 for Springfield.
As the Pride were up by three unanswered, it was looking like this game was completely iced. However, just a minute after Springfield’s last goal, Pote committed a foul inside the box, setting up the Lancers for a penalty kick.
Worcester State defender Mal Hawkins lined up and drilled his shot into the bottom left corner, which sent Pote the wrong way and cut Springfield’s lead down to two goals with five minutes remaining.
Fortunately, the Pride defense held on strong and prevented the Lancers from getting another look on target until the sound of the buzzer.
This was a big game for Springfield, as it put them back into the win column. Henderson was a big help with his brace, which were also the first collegiate goals of his career.
“Coach came to the game telling us that we need to be hungry to score so obviously that gave everyone a little boost, and having two was great but we need to keep on going,” Henderson said.
The Springfield win boosted their record to 4-6-1 on the season and they will continue to keep pushing on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 1:00 p.m. against NEWMAC opponent MIT.
Photo courtesy of Springfield Athletics.