May 3rd of last year was a tough day to swallow as a member, fan or alumni of the program.
Jake Degnan scored a snipe to put the Pride up three goals with under six minutes to go in the third quarter, looking to put away Babson in the NEWMAC championship. The game felt like Deja Vu of the team’s contest in the regular season, where Springfield dominated on the defensive end and won 9-6. This time though, the Beavers pulled together eight unanswered goals in just nine minutes, ultimately sending the Pride packing, losing 12-10. Although it left a sour taste, it’s a new year — first year head coach Sean Quirk strives to bring back a conference championship plaque to Alden Street for the first time since 2019.
“Mentally and physically, if we can develop as much as the whole roster, what that’s going to allow us to do is play a lot of guys in every single game this season, so we just wear teams down, and we become a well oiled machine,” Quirk said. “Whether you’re the preseason All-American or the last guy on the bench, everyone is equal. I don’t care who plays.”
“I’m going to treat all 42 guys the same,” Quirk added. “I’m going to treat them all fairly. I’m going to coach them with the exact same energy every single day, they’re going to be the ones that decide who plays, who is most consistent, who’s running the systems, where they fit, and everything else.”
In 2024 the Pride went 7-10, losing by 11 to Babson in the NEWMAC championship, yet 2025 was a bounce back year, going 10-7 and having an undefeated record in conference play. Degnan, who returns as a junior attackman, captain and preseason All-American has led the offense the past two seasons in goal scoring, but the roster turnover has been a big piece in Quirk’s first year.
Eighteen players graduated from the program after last spring, which accounted for over 38% of the roster, and the Pride will need to fill in those gaps. Freshman such as midfielder Pat McGowan and longstick midfielder Logan Ruby have a chance at filling that void immediately.
“Pat is so talented that he could eventually be on our first midline, he’s that talented, and he’s bought in that much, but he’s providing so much depth on our second midline,” Quirk said. “Logan is playing like an upperclassman, and I’m excited to see him succeed as well.”
One of the more unique things about physical sports such as lacrosse is that younger guys sometimes take longer to develop into the college atmosphere, and eventually become major impact players. There’s several players that fit that category this season.
“Ian Cote [goalie] is a tremendous leader,” Quirk said. “He’s bought into what we’re doing, certainly on that end of the field. Zach Rabin is becoming an elite defenseman. Dylan Brown has really developed. Chuck Vath is moving up the depth chart every day. We just got to get them on the field. Dom Savastano played a bit last year as a freshman, but he’s becoming a pretty dominant face off guy quickly.”
Quirk has built a philosophy that is truly his own, but has comparisons to his predecessor Keith Bugbee, who always preached a full 60 minutes, and this is something that Quirk mentioned not only at halftime, but at the end of the scrimmage on Saturday against Conn. College. Quirk asked to reset the scoreboard after every quarter as well.
“Their commitment to being their best selves is certainly there, and commitment to being their best teammates as well,” Quirk said. “And there were times we got away from it, and particularly in the third quarter. We got to be locked in, whether you’re on the field or on the bench, it’s that 60 minutes, it’s that next minute that you got to be focused on, and if we can do that over the course of the whole game, we’re going to beat teams that are more talented than us, because it’s just the mentality and the mindset that we’re going to have.”
Springfield’s first game of the regular season is built for a great opportunity at 3 p.m. on Saturday against No. 9 Stevens, who’ve already beaten last year’s national championship runner-up in Dickinson.
“We’re not going to focus on our opponent as much as we’re going to focus on ourselves,” Quirk said. “It’s been a rivalry, wins, losses, back and forth. Let’s go attack them, and I think our guys are really getting the mindset that they’re fearless.”