By Braedan Shea
@Braedan_shea
Down by one just two minutes into the third quarter, Springfield College women’s lacrosse attack Lily Johnson cut to the left wing of the field – ten yards from the net. Posting up an MIT defender like a center does in basketball, Johnson held off her opponent while simultaneously receiving a pass from Samanatha Andresen.
Once secured, the sophomore paused. With a quick look to her right, Johnson realized that the Engineers were not sending a second defender – leaving the single defender between herself and MIT goalkeeper Paulina Vien. With a quick smirk, Johnson knew exactly how the situation was going to play out.
She took one more breath, then sprung into her signature move. Johnson faked a spin to her right, only shimmying her shoulders slightly, but enough for her defender to bite. As soon as Johnson felt that movement, she reversed to her left, leaving the Engineer defender in the dust. With one more step, Johnson fired a bullet into the top left pocket of the net. Vien had no chance stopping Johnson one-on-one, and Springfield tied the game up at 10 after trailing by as many as five.
Following a Maddie Roy goal 36 seconds later, Springfield never trailed again, defending its home turf and defeating the Engineers 16-15 in an overtime thriller on Stagg Field.
“We definitely needed that,” said Johnson following the win. “It’s just an all around great feeling and I’m really pumped up.”
From the opening whistle, it was clear that Springfield was not going to have the same dominant success that they have seen this season in the NEWMAC. The Engineers exploded out of the gate, winning the games first two draws, and consequently scoring on the two ensuing possessions.
But a penalty by MIT’s Nina Petulla opened the door for Springfield – as down a player, the Engineers had no chance slowing down the Pride’s fast-paced offense. Johnson scored the first goal for Springfield, coming from a beautiful feed from Andresen. Over the span of three minutes, Springfield rattled off four goals, taking a 4-2 lead.
Yet MIT never went away easily, responding with a four-goal streak of their own, and leading 6-4. Springfield first-year phenom Izzy Lalancette beat the first quarter buzzer by barreling her way to her first goal of the game, but led by its two-woman show of Ellie Rabenold and Ashley Thomas, MIT put up another four goals in the second.
With her team down big, Springfield head coach Jenn Thomas needed a timeout. Once her team retook the field, the Pride ended the half with three straight goals, and carried that momentum into the second half, starting the third quarter with four more. The seven-goal run, led by Johnson and Lalancette, was ultimately the driving force behind the win; all dating back to the timeout.
“I really focus on their energy,” Thomas said. “Yes the style of play, yes it’s the game management, but it’s a lot of where we are emotionally. It’s really looking at their emotions, looking at their body language and figuring out what is going to be best for us. Today those timeouts were really crucial.”
As Thomas’ seventh goal hit the net with 31 seconds remaining in the game, encapsulating another four-goal stretch, MIT’s third such run in the game, the Engineers battled back to force overtime.
In the extra quarter, however, the story was much the same for Springfield. After Hannah Hibbert won the Pride’s 15th draw control of the game, the offensive focus was clear; Get the ball to Johnson, and get out of the way.
In a sequence nearly identical to her game tying goal, Johnson once again posted up, dipped her shoulder, half spun and scored. A collective sigh was released from Springfield’s sideline, immediately followed by screams, as it swarmed Johnson on the field.
“At this part of the season, going into our postseason play, having that big of a win proves to us that we are capable of what we’ve been talking about all season,” Thomas said. “When we were against Bowden and Trinity and other nationally ranked teams, we shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit. It was great because even though we did have some errors, we were still able to be composed at the end. And that just shows that we’ve been growing a lot this season and have that maturity now.”
When it comes to her using her signature move, Johnson lets the game come to her.
“I kind of walk back and forth,” Johnson said. “Then as soon as I get my hands free I kind of just kind of just shoot it, as soon as I can. I just try my best to place it but just hope it goes in. That’s all I do.”
With the victory, the Pride remain undefeated at home (7-0) and in the NEWMAC (8-0), and find themselves in a tight conference battle for the top seed with Babson. Babson, who is also 13-2 with an undefeated in-conference record, has dominated opponents – including a 10-7 win over MIT. With a matchup on Saturday, April 20, the winner will take home the No.1 seed and home-field advantage. Thomas expects a big game to finish off the season.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” Thomas said. “That one’s big. It’s who wants to be the No. 1, and it’s definitely both of us. We both beat MIT which is a great feeling. We just keep telling ourselves and our team, we want as many sweep weeks as possible. We took down one nationally ranked opponent so now we’re ready for the second.”
Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics