By Sam MacGilpin
Eight games down and zero wins – nothing seemed to go right for the Springfield College men’s lacrosse team until Saturday. The Pride came out with a different mindset, pulling out their first win of the season with a promising 13-10 victory over MIT.
60 minutes has been at the forefront of Springfield coach Keith Bugbee’s mind since the start of the season, and this afternoon, Bugbee acknowledged his team played a game for the entire four quarters.
“We absolutely played 60 minutes. If we didn’t, we would’ve lost the game,” Bugbee said. “Being up by a couple of goals in a game is dangerous, because you feel you can take your foot off the gas. But you have to push even harder. I’m proud of our guys.”
After a slow start for both teams, MIT got on the board first, but it wasn’t long until the Pride tied it up with a Jake Degnan goal from Bryan Stensrud. After allowing another Engineer goal, Springfield goalie Kaden Quirk became a wall for the rest of the quarter, with four significant saves as the Pride ended the quarter down one.
Springfield came out swinging in the second quarter, with first-years leading the way. Gage Sperlonga gave a dime to Stensrud, who snuck it past the goalie to tie things up. Stensrud ended with two goals and four assists, a combined 15 points in his last two games. Stensrud got the starting nod for his first time against Middlebury the previous week and has been thankful for the opportunity.
“(This) first win feels great. We’ve been waiting for this forever, working day in, day out,” Stensrud said. “I’m lucky to be in the spot to give my guys chances to score.”
Stensrud controlled the ball a few minutes later at X and put one on a rope to Brady Soldo, who put it in the back of the net. The Pride went up 5-3 at the half, thanks to the credit of a Matt Webb goal and a Kevin Tierney snipe from Stensrud.
“It’s a really simple offense. Swing it through x, and then the cuts will open up,” Stensrud said. “Coach (Ryon) Lynch has been great on us, teaching us how to play in our offense. He knows how to flow it. It’s about executing what our coaches show us.”
Third quarters have been crucial for the Pride earlier this season, as they experienced multiple breakdowns. But today was a different story.
With MIT opening up the scoring in the third, the Pride needed a response, and Sperlonga was just that. Sperlonga backed his defender down for an easy crease dump, and the Stensrud to Degnan connection struck again for the second time in the game to build a three-goal lead. Mason Nocito responded to an MIT goal with two of his own, and Springfield went into the final fifteen minutes with a 10-7 lead.
MIT could feel the game slipping away, but returned and put it to a one-goal deficit with two great plays by the Engineers. The momentum was about to flip, and the Pride prevailed. Matt Webb had an isolation dodge that shook his defender and led to a Springfield goal, and with 10 minutes to go, the Pride made the game-sealing play.
After an outstanding Connor Roberts takeaway, Sperlonga took the ball behind the goal and drew a double team. Sperlonga stayed calm and gave it to Stensrud, who switched hands midway through the pass and put one top corner.
If that goal wasn’t convincing enough, short-stick defenseman Jackson Lane picked up a ground ball in front of the net and dove with a backhand shot that went in. The Bench squad had to be contained after the celebration, and minutes later, the clock hit triple zero.
“There’s no room for error, and today was a good example. I told the team the other day at practice, if you walk by our field, you’d have no idea we’re 0-8,” Bugbee said. “They practiced so hard this week, and I’m proud of them for that.”
Although 1-8, The Pride can still make a push for the NEWMAC playoffs, and play crosstown rival Western New England at 7 p.m., Tuesday on Stagg Field.
“We’re going to take this momentum and bring it to Western New England,” Stensrud said. “We just needed one.”
Photo by Ella Travaglino