Assistant Sports Editor
The stretch of Wilbraham Road that separates Springfield College from Western New England University measures 2.3 miles. Only three stoplights separate two of the best Division III lacrosse teams in the northeast and on Wednesday afternoon, Springfield scored a 10-5 win over their cross-town rival.
This was the first time since 2006 that the Pride have knocked off the Golden Bears. SC had dropped the previous two meetings by a combined score of 20-13.
“This win means the world to this team,” said senior-captian Tim Cimini. “The last two years we played them tough for 50 or 55 minutes and just came up short, so its good to get this win.”
The Pride’s senior class had never beaten WNE, and neither had any of the assistants.
“Going into this game Coach Bugbee was the only one who had beaten them,” said senior Mike Delia, who scored two goals and added an assist. “This win is huge.”
Bugbee echoed both of his seniors.
“We have had a lot of one-goal, two-goal games with them in recent years and it was getting tiring,” said Bugbee. “You could feel it on the sideline, and we felt like we could beat this team.”
The win gives Bugbee not only his first win over WNE since 2006, but also just his fifth win over former player John Klepacki ‘96. Klepacki, who took over WNE in 2002, has posted a 6-5 record against his alma mater.
Jimmy Kelley may be reached at jkelley@springfieldcollege.edu