In Springfield College’s first NEWMAC Conference game of the year, Salve Regina’s Shannon Kennedy scored two goals. Less than three minutes into the game, Kennedy was left all alone with goalie Kaitlyn Parent and scored. It was clear the Pride were slightly outmatched with energy, as Salve Regina had an extra day of rest.
With ten minutes left in the first quarter, Springfield College finally had the ball down toward Salve’s goal. It looked like graduate student Anna Beck and sophomore Hailey Gaydos were going to team up in order to tie the game, but the Seahawk defense converged to quickly stop them.
Kennedy immediately received the ball, pushing past four Springfield defenders alone and scoring from just outside the circle with 9:52 left in the first period. After that goal by Salve Regina, Springfield swapped out their goalie, Parent, for Neilee Hess. The rest of the first continued uneventfully, as neither team had an opportunity to score — however it seemed like Salve had captured all of the momentum.
To start the second, Springfield’s defense tightened up, but the Seahawks had an answer; as Georgia Costello scored to put the Pride into a 3-0 hole. Salve was playing stellar defense in the circle, however Springfield finally broke through and earned a penalty corner with ten minutes remaining in the first half. The corner had looked promising, but Springfield’s Molly Collins took a little too much time to get a shot off and Salve’s goalie Bryn Protheroe made a great pad save.
With just under four minutes until halftime, Springfield had finally captured some of their momentum back with a great shot from Audrey Hayes, with Audrey Dolan providing the assist. Salve earned another penalty corner with a minute left, but great defense from the Pride left them down two heading into the half.
Gaydos, a sophomore from Connecticut who also plays on the women’s lacrosse team, celebrated saying, “We want to hype everyone up for as long as we can. It’s hard when you get down three but we bring that everyday in practice, lift or games so it’s great when we get a little boost of it too,”.
To begin the second half, lots of fresh legs appeared for Springfield College. The Pride had recaptured their aggressive look, and a great Anna Beck shot was stopped again by Protheroe.
Springfield’s Samara Skully had intercepted a pass and delivered the ball right upfield to a diving Beck, but the Pride remained short of their goal. The third continued uneventfully, as Springfield still could not get a quick shot off.
Heading to the fourth with a two goal deficit, it was starting to look grim for the Pride, but they continued to fight, quickly earning a penalty corner in the opening minutes. They were unable to capitalize however, as Dolan’s shot went wide left. Once again, Springfield was close to scoring with seven minutes remaining, but another slow shot was thwarted by the Seahawk defenders.
With four minutes left, Salve pushed the ball downfield, and Angelina Regels fired a rocket that got past Hess, making the score 4-1. Springfield thought they had a goal to cut into the deficit shortly after off a penalty corner, but it goal was negated by the referees due to it being from outside the circle. The final score stayed 4-1, and Springfield began their NEWMAC slate at 0-1.
The Pride continue their season on Wednesday, Sept. 25 against crosstown rival Western New England.
Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics