By Carley Crain
@carley_crain12
On a cold, chilly and sunny Tuesday afternoon the Springfield men’s lacrosse team took on Middlebury and lost, 12-6.
Coming into the game both teams had three wins on the season. Middlebury set the pace early and scored right at the start, only about a minute in by Jack Sheehan. After a clutch save by Springfield’s goalie Dean Pesce, the Pride carried that momentum and scored two goals back to back, the first shot by #17, junior Riley Burgmyer, and the second by #44, junior Steven Betsch.
Pesce had a busy first quarter as he had 11 saves throughout the first half.
It would be about six minutes later when the next goal would be scored– but this time the Panthers added another by Sheehan, making it 2-2. Less than 60 seconds later Middlebury scored again back to back, making it 4-2 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
The Pride had a hard time scoring the rest of the first and second quarters. Neither team added any goals till the 5:55 mark of the second, as Sheehan scored his third goal of the game after a 10-minute drought of no offensive scoring.
Both teams played strong defensively throughout the first part of the game which made for a challenging battle. Springfield finally added another goal at the 2:00 minute mark of the second quarter from a strong shot by Mason Nocito, making it 5-3 with Middlebury leading. With a little less than one minute left in the half, however, the Panthers added its sixth goal of the game and carried that momentum into the locker room.
To kick off the third quarter Springfield set the tone and added their fourth goal of the game about a minute in which was scored by Connor Roberts. The Panthers however responded quickly as Sheehan scored once again for Middlebury, making it 7-4.
Middlebury added their eighth goal at about the four-minute mark of the third quarter after a scoreless four minutes. The Panthers strengthened their lead shortly after even more and made the game 9-4 with a goal by William Ryan. Despite a strong start to the quarter Springfield did not add any more points throughout the third. The Panthers kept scoring, as they hit the double digits with about one minute left in the third, making the score 10-4.
The fourth quarter started with Nocito’s second goal of the game, as Springfield was trying to close the scoring gap. Springfield shortly added another goal, this time by Zac Schuette. Middlebury continued their offensive dominance, however, as the Panthers racked up another goal, making the score 11-6 with about four minutes left in the game. Middlebury added the final goal of the game at around the two-minute mark, making the final score 12-6.
Middlebury’s strong and aggressive offense was hard to stop– as Springfield now faces a 3-6 record. The Pride will travel to Babson this weekend for a NEWMAC showdown.
Photo: Lucy Hamilton/The Student.