By Carley Crain
@carley_crain12
On a cool Thursday evening, the Springfield College women’s field hockey team won in an overtime thriller vs. Worcester State — a win that the team has been wanting for a few years. Tonight was also the first home game for newly hired head coach Mia Olsen.
“I think tonight was a really hard fight. We fought until the end,” said Olsen. “We definitely dominated position and we wanted to make sure to lessen the storm of their counterattack.”
Olsen was added to the Springfield staff this offseason after longtime head coach Melissa Sharpe left Alden Street to spend more time with her family.
Olsen is off to a good start, as the team is now 2-0 on the season. To kick off the evening, the Pride took control of the offense, but Worcester State’s Karalyn Jones scored first right before the end of the first quarter.
The next fifteen minutes included strong defensive action from Worcester State, which Springfield struggled to match up against. The rest of the second half remained scoreless for both teams, and heading into halftime, Worcester State edged Springfield, 1-0.
Springfield opened the second half with more energy and spent a good part of the third quarter on Worcester State’s side of the field, which was also filled with corners. However, the score remained the same, 1-0 Worcester state.
Springfield had some key speedy breakaways throughout the fourth quarter which contributed to another string of numerous corners for the Pride. On a drive shot from the circle, Audrey Hayes tied up the game with about 7 minutes left in the fourth.
The Pride’s home opener went down to the wire, with both teams fighting to the last minute to add a second goal. At the end of the fourth, the score remained tied which resulted in a 10 minute overtime period with a 7 v. 7 field lineup.
Another drive shot from Audrey Bresciano won the game for Springfield with less than four minutes into overtime. The Pride are now 2-0 on the year and will travel to Roger Williams this Saturday at 12 p.m.
Photo: Carley Crain/The Student