By Emma Bynes
@Emma_Bynes4
The Springfield College women’s field hockey team managed to snap its six-game losing streak in a 3-0 win over Mount Holyoke on Tuesday and much of it is due to goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parent, who posted her first shutout for the Pride.
Springfield went up 1-0 after sophomore Hailey Gaydos poked the ball past the Lyons goalkeeper, Rachel Katzenberg, 11 minutes into the game. The rest of the first quarter was quiet for Mount Holyoke – they only mustered two shots, one missed high and the other was saved by Parent. Springfield got eight more shots off in the period, but was unable to score again.
Three minutes into the second, Springfield struck again, with Audrey Hayes scoring. The teamwork from the Pride looked fantastic: Gaydos connected with Hayes for the goal. On the defensive end, the Pride looked unstoppable. Head coach Mia Olsen and her squad kept a 2-0 lead going into the half.
The connection between Hayes and Gaydos upfront has been something that has been blossoming since Gaydos joined the team at the beginning of last season.
“Being together on the team last year, we’ve really been working a lot this season together and I think we have a really good connection out there,” Hayes said. “We both have the same speed, we show up and hustle, and we find each other in the right spots.”
The Pride looked to stay aggressive after the break, quickly earning a penalty corner two and a half minutes into the third quarter. The Pride took too long to get a shot off, keeping the Lyons at a distance. Shortly after Mount Holyoke earned a penalty corner, but it was to no avail due to stellar defensive efforts.
Dominating time of possession for the third, continuing to earn corners and defense were the keys for Springfield maintaining their lead. To lead off the fourth quarter, Mount Holyoke earned back-to-back penalty corners. But Parent – aided by her defense – stopped the Lyons both times, hyping up the Springfield sideline even more.
“Our goalkeeper played really well,” Olsen said ahead of their game at Wellesley on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Gaydos and Hayes connected again with seven minutes left, with the former setting up the latter to put the Pride up by three. Springfield maintained a tenacious mentality despite having an insurmountable lead, which ended up being its first NEWMAC win of the season.
“We play our best with our backs against the wall,” Olsen said. “I think having the pressure of needing to perform does really well for us. Being able to take every game and not care about the opponent, focus on how we can play and the best we can do ourselves. If that means we’re coming away with good outcomes that’s great, but we need to make sure that we’re playing our best hockey.”
Photo Courtesy of Springfield Athletics.