By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
As Springfield College’s teams resume action for their fall campaigns, the Pride’s football team entered the season with high expectations after a 12-1 run in 2024 that saw the team reach the National Quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament. However, Springfield dropped its season opener on the road against Western New England on Saturday, falling by a final score of 23-22. The Golden Bears secured the victory thanks to a 13-yard touchdown catch from Christian Delgado in the final seconds of the game. The defeat marks Springfield’s first loss at the hands of Western New England since 2021, a game the Pride lost 24-13.
Saturday’s matchup was a back and forth affair, with the teams exchanging scores throughout. In fact, about two-and-a-half minutes before the Golden Bears notched their game-winning touchdown, the Pride took a 22-16 lead off of a 26-yard touchdown run by Cam Pedro. The Pride stuck with their longstanding ways of a run-heavy offense in this matchup, dialing up 57 runs against just three passes. Springfield put up 30 or more points in all but one game last season, though they scored twice as many points in week two as they did in week one. The Pride surely hope that pattern will repeat itself on Saturday, when they play host to Husson with kickoff set for noon.
Meanwhile, women’s volleyball went 1-2 this past weekend at the Haverford Invitational. The Pride lost on Friday to Haverford in 5 sets (17-25, 25-20, 15-25, 26-24, 13-15), then fell to Scranton in three sets in their first action on Saturday (18-25, 21-25, 18-25). However, Springfield responded in its third and final match of the weekend, taking care of business against Lynchburg with a three-set victory (25-20, 26-24, 25-19).
Emily Keaveney played an important role for the Pride throughout the weekend, as the outside hitter finished with a team-high 30 kills across the three matches. Fellow outside hitter Olivia Nealy was also important for the Pride, tallying 40 digs over the course of the weekend. Overall, the Pride sit at 4-2 on the season, with a doubleheader in Hartford, CT. set for Saturday. Springfield will face Trinity College (Conn.) at noon and UMass Boston at 2 p.m.
Switching gears to soccer, the women’s team fell to Hartford at home on Saturday, 4-1. First-year Katie McFerran continued to be a bright spot for the Pride, tallying her second goal of the season across just three games played.
However, Hartford’s attack proved to be too potent, and a stretch of two goals in five-and-a-half minutes propelled it to a 3-1 lead before a tally by Anastasia Nerney at the 81:32 mark brought the Pride’s deficit to three. Notably, this season marks the start of head coach Kursten Shade’s tenure with the team, so it is natural to expect a period of adjustment as Shade implements her system and the squad gains cohesion. Springfield is off until Tuesday, September 16, when it’ll square off against Wesleyan (Conn.) on the road at 5 p.m.
As for men’s soccer, the Pride earned two wins this past week to continue their hot start to the campaign, and they currently sit at 3-1. On Saturday, Springfield topped Wentworth by a final score of 2-1 thanks to a pair of tallies from Robby Herrera, his first two of the season. Herrera’s goals came in the span of eight-and-a-half minutes, and they proved to be all the Pride needed to secure the win. Goalkeeper Noah Pote was big for Springfield, making five saves while allowing just the one goal.
Then, on Tuesday against Curry, the Pride’s offense exploded to the tune of a 6-2 home victory. Herrera found the back of the net again, and Luke McPhillips, Parker Thornton and Connor Policarpio each recorded one goal as well. Springfield’s top offensive performer on Tuesday was Jared Kelly, who scored twice to lead the Pride. Pote was also stout in net once again, racking up six saves while surrendering two goals. Their 3-1 mark is the best start to a season for the Pride through four games since 2018, and they’ll look to keep it going on Saturday when they travel to face Skidmore at 3 p.m.
Finally, field hockey picked up a decisive 3-0 win over Eastern Connecticut State on Tuesday, moving the team to 2-1 on the young season. Hailey Gaydos, Rachel Simkewicz and Kaelin Cerasuolo scored for the Pride, with Gaydos (two) and Simkewicz (one) recording assists. Springfield controlled the game, outshooting the Warriors 16-5 in a nice bounce-back win after the team fell 2-0 on Wednesday, September 3 to #16 Amherst.
In addition to generating ample pressure on their opponents, the Pride have also received a variety of contributions so far this year – they have scored eight goals across their first three games, but boast only one multi-goal scorer (Gaydos). The fact that Springfield has been getting offense from all over bodes well for the team as it moves forward, with a road tilt against Worcester State set for Thursday at 7 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics/Flickr