As time wound down in the first half, Kevin Tierney looked off several defenders and hit Riley Burgmyer on the wing for an absolute snipe with four seconds remaining until half. Springfield men’s lacrosse was ecstatic entering the locker room only down 6-5 against No. 7 Wesleyan.
30 minutes of game play later, however, that number five was still on the board.
Wesleyan took down Springfield, catching a 17-5 win in a game that ultimately slipped away from the Pride, as they were shut out entirely in the second half.
”I think we lacked poise,” Head coach Keith Bugbee said. “There’s no reason we should’ve changed in the second half. We could’ve challenged [Wesleyan] way more, and I’m not sure why we didn’t”
Ryan Berkel started off the scoring for Springfield with an inside finish on a pass from Tierney, and he had three assists in the first half on the Pride’s five goals.
“Kevin is the orchestra leader of the offense,” Bugbee said. “He’s really smart. I think he sees what would work against the defense, and he’s got them in the right spots to be successful. He’s a good leader.”
Down 4-1, Brady Soldo turned around and took a rip 10 yards out that went past the Cardinal goalie to cut the lead to two. Berkel was found in that exact same spot a minute later on a man-up opportunity, and cashed in — but it was unorthodox. Berkel’s shot pinged the crossbar and zipped straight to the ground 90 degrees below. Wesleyan continued to play on, but one ref had other plans; he came in and called it a good goal, making the deficit only one for Springfield.
For Wesleyan, the close calls are all too familiar. In a game two weeks ago against No. 1 Tufts, a Cardinal player visibly scored, but the refs said no goal, and Wesleyan ended up losing in overtime.
While the poise and execution wasn’t there for the full 60 minutes, the hustle favored Springfield. Multiple caused turnovers and ground ball efforts by the Pride kept them in the first half. Notably, Burgmyer missed a crease dump, but sprinted nearly 30 yards across the field and beat out a defender to regain possession.
“We’re more than capable of beating a team like that,” Bugbee said. “We have to maintain our poise for 60 minutes if we want to do it though. If we have too many turnovers like we did tonight, it won’t go well.”
Burgmyer’s goal to end the half down 6-5 was a sign of hope, but out of the half, the Cardinal’s put it to rest. Wesleyan outscored the Pride 11-0 in the second half, and the third and fourth quarters were copycats of each other. The Pride found themselves playing way too much defense, and the offense completely shut down against the Cardinal’s zone defensive strategy. This is the second time in three games that Wesleyan has had a second half shutout.
“The defense is the strongest part of our team,” Bugbee said. “We have pieces on offense, but we’re going to need people to step up.”
With the loss, Springfield drops to 7-6, but are still 5-0 in the NEWMAC. If Springfield can pull wins out against Salve Regina and Wheaton, they clinch the number one seed in the conference for the first time since 2018, and can get at least one more home game for Keith Bugbee, who’s in his 42nd and final season for the Pride.
Springfield travels to play Salve at 12 on Saturday.
Photo by Sam Serrano