By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
With a sea of pink shirts in the crowd, the Springfield College field hockey team took on the No. 2 Division III team in the country, Babson College.
The Pride, along with the rest of the NEWMAC conference were using the weekend as their “Play for the cure game,” a fundraiser by each of the NEWMAC schools to raise money for breast cancer awareness – which featured bright pink warmup shirts for every player and a donation table for fans to support.
“We all kind of banded together and decided to do it as a group, which is really special,” said Springfield head coach Mia Olsen. “Obviously we are all competing every week, but to be able to come together and have a cause game is special.”
On the field, the Pride suffered a 5-1 defeat, and their fifth NEWMAC loss of the season, however the game was much closer than the scoreline will tell you.
“To go toe-to-toe with them for as long as we did is something to be proud of,” Olsen said.
The Beavers, who now stand with a record of 14-1, came in with five conference games under their belt, having outscored their opponents by a whopping 31-2 margin. However, the Pride were able to keep the score close deep into the fourth period.
Babson started the first period off strong, but could only muster a single goal, with Springfield goaltender Remy Niland fending off big chances at the beginning and end of the period.
The Pride generated some offensive pressure early in the second period, with Kaitlin Bardellini using her speed to give Babson defense something to worry about.
Despite generating a penalty corner, the Pride didn’t find the back of the net as Hailey Gaydos’ shot was turned away.
The script was flipped minutes later, as Babson began their offensive assault.
A pair of impressive Niland saves forced the Beavers to keep taking penalty corners, but on their fourth consecutive corner, they were finally able to break down the Springfield defense to score a goal.
Babson had a similar sequence to start the third period, with the Pride stopping their first penalty corner attempt before they were able to find the back of the net in the third.
“[The penalty corners] are definitely an advantage,” Olsen said. “I think they were creative with them, and they had a lot of talented players that could take a good shot.”
The Pride amped up their defensive pressure after the third Babson goal, allowing their offense to benefit.
Olsen moved each of the Pride’s main lines higher up the pitch, allowing for more defensive stress on the Babson defenders in their own half.
“I just wanted to put as much pressure on them as we could,” Olsen said.
This resulted in a dominant five minute stretch to end the third period for the Pride, creating ample scoring opportunities. Finally, Gaydos finally found the back of the net for Springfield to cut the lead to 3-1.
“We got a few corners, a few shots off and obviously we scored, which feels really good against the No. 2 team in the country,” Olsen said.
After getting into striking distance, Springfield was unable to find that next goal to really put Babson on their toes.
The Beavers successfully connected on a pair of insurance goals with less than five minutes to go to cement the win.
“Our defense held up pretty well today, they popped in two in the fourth but we’ve had a long week of games,” Olsen said.
This game marked the final game in a stretch that saw Springfield play four games in eight days, and the Pride have a pair of days off before they travel to Wheaton to take on the Lyons on Oct. 17.
Photo Courtesy of Springfield College.