After a grueling 9-8 loss to Nazareth last Saturday, Springfield College men’s lacrosse was looking forward to playing on its home turf the following week — except they came back to find Stagg field covered in six inches of ice.
Having no playable field on campus, the Pride were forced to practice inside, in the field house, until they got in touch with UMass and were able to schedule their game against No. 10 Stevens on Sunday. Springfield eventually dropped its second game of the season to Stevens 13-7 on Garber Field.
The Pride got off to a great start, killing a man-up opportunity for the Ducks, and getting on the scoreboard first with a goal from Mason Nocito. Although Stevens started out slow, it responded with three straight goals, including one with five seconds left in the first quarter. The goal was caused by a turnover from Springfield that led to a defensive breakdown, and head coach Keith Bugbee knew his team couldn’t afford those types of mistakes.
“That stuff broke our backs,” Bugbee said. “Too many turnovers that we had led into too many transitions that helped Stevens more than we’d like.”
Nocito scored his second goal of the game on a low-to-low rip that ricocheted off of the goalie’s left foot, but the Pride went scoreless for the next 15 minutes. The Ducks scored six in that period, putting them up 9-2. Shea Grant had two goals and Connor Gabilanes had an assist and a goal to cap off the 6-0 run. Regardless of the seven goal deficit, the defense had a solid showing, and Kaden Quirk had eight saves through that stretch. Jake Degnan got the team back on track with an odd-angled shot that got past the goalkeeper, and Springfield trailed 9-3.
Stevens pushed the lead back to seven, but an unexpected play shifted the game’s momentum. Stevens turned the ball over with nine minutes left in the third, and Jackson Lane scooped the ball to find close defenseman Reece Whitney sprinting up to midfield quickly. Whitney surveyed the field, faked a shot that got past his defender, and bounced his shot to ping the top right corner of the goal. The goal was the first shot on goal of Whitney’s career and the junior’s first point, showing how he’s gotten off to a strong 2025 campaign.
The sideline and crowd went nuclear, which sparked a 4-1 run. Two of those four goals were missiles from Degnan and Nocito; Degnan had two goals on the day, and Nocito notched a hat trick.
“We have tough kids,” Bugbee said. “It’s just frustrating when we’re playing great defense, and we can’t convert any shots.”
Shortly after, long stick midfielder Gavin Carzello picked up Vincent Scialdone’s faceoff win, wrapped around a defender, and scored as he got blown up by his defender and drew a flag after the goal. Carzello and Scialdone had a stellar game, with Scialdone going 14-22 from faceoffs. The senior has established himself as one of the best FOGOs in the NEWMAC and potentially in the country.
Stevens’ lead was cut to three with eight minutes left, but Springfield’s offense vanished, turning the ball over three times and missing four shots. The clock hit triple zero, and Springfield left the field 0-2 to start the season.
“We just have to create more offense, and we’ll be fine,” Bugbee said. “We play all these tough teams; no one is different from another. We need to play complimentary lacrosse all around.”
Bugbee referred to the stall in the fourth quarter and their man-up unit, which has produced one goal in five opportunities to start the season.
Springfield will travel up on Saturday to face No. 19 Union College to try to avenge last year’s one-goal loss.
Photo by Jack Serrano