After losing to Babson on March 21, the following practice two days later felt like rock bottom for Springfield men’s lacrosse.
The Pride found themselves in a grueling practice, and was one of the worst two hours of the season for everyone involved. It could’ve flushed the season away. It could’ve torn players and coaches apart, and it might have for those 120 minutes. After, the coaching staff gathered together to talk out plans for an extended period of time.
“You don’t sleep at night after a loss like that, and especially a practice like we had,” head coach Sean Quirk said. “The staff talked about different things we could do, but ultimately we decided to let the guys figure it out themselves.”
Figuring it out has been a common theme through the course of 2026 for the Pride, along with responding well to adversity. The next day, Springfield had its best practice of the year according to Sean Quirk.
“It happened because of how strong the culture is, and the relationships that they’ve built with one another,” Sean Quirk said. “It brought us to where we are now.”
The following game on March 29 was the most memorable up to this point in the season. Down six goals at one point in the second half, Springfield fought back to miraculously come out on top 11-10 in double overtime over MIT. The win sparked more life into the Pride, as they won five NEWMAC games in a row, clinched the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and now face that same MIT team in the semifinals on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The season has had its ups and downs like any year. In Division III, the Pride sit around average in a multitude of categories statistically, yet are 10-5 and rank above average in lacrossereference.com’s elo rating (53rd), and it’s because they respond so well to scenarios where many other teams might fall behind. In seven of Springfield’s 10 victories, it’s been losing at some point in the game; a testament to grit.
“I’ve been telling the offense before the games recently to really enjoy these moments,” graduate assistant Kevin Tierney said. “This group of guys will never be together again in this locker room, playing a certain opponent, so we have to be emphasizing the importance of being in that present moment, not worried about the last play, just to be focused on the play at hand. Every play ahead in these games is crucial.”
Tierney, like his fellow graduate assistant Kaden Quirk, have had their fair share of NEWMC playoff experience before stepping into the coaching field — the two played together in 2024 and 2025. Although playoffs are a different beast, the staff is looking at every game the same.
“I think Coach [Sean] Quirk said it really well yesterday. We’re going to prepare for MIT on Thursday just like we’ve prepared for every team we played on our 15 game schedule this year,” Kaden Quirk said. “Nothing really changes. I think that’s what our message has been all week and will continue to be going forward.”
Caused turnovers have been an area of success for Springfield, as they’ve caused 178 of them, good for the most in a single season since at least 2010. It’s due to guys like Gus Oliveira, Reece Whitney and Chuck Weitzel, who’ve been lockdown especially in the Month of April, and the defensive midfield group that have caused chaos especially in transition. You can also point to the LSM group of Logan Ruby and Dylan Brown, who’ve become high-level defenders down the stretch for the Pride.
“I think the coolest thing about Ruby and Brown is those two guys play with that edge that you really look for in someone who’s playing that LSM position, who can hawk guys down in the middle of the field, who can push transition play really fast, and play aggressive,” Kaden Quirk said. “They do it in their own way and opponents midfielders struggle a little bit to go versus those different guys. They’ve been doing a great job.”
Offensively it’s been a balanced group scoring wise, and has seen major growth from underclassmen such as Chuck Vath, Pat McGowan and Ryan Berkel. Shooting volume has gone up as the season has gone on, but percentage is an area of improvement still for a team that carries the talent like the Pride do.
“We started the season out, barely taking 30 shots a game, and we got that number way up, and over the past few we’ve definitely generated a lot of really good looks,” Tierney said. “We’re still finding ways to get transition offense going, and we’re scoring the ball enough to win games, but we would definitely like to see that ball go in the net a bit more.”
The Pride take on MIT on April 30, and have won their last four matchups against the Engineers.