The Springfield College men’s lacrosse team just needed one. Now, the Pride have caught some fire and have a two game winning streak after beating WNE 14-13 in yet another downpour on Tuesday night.
This game meant everything for both teams. Last year when these two teams faced off,
WNE took the win in a triple overtime thriller, as it scored with time expiring. The goal left the Pride stung for over a year, and coach Keith Bugbee loved the way his team fought tonight.
“That one really sucked from last year, I felt it for a long time,” Bugbee said. “But this team doesn’t ever give up. Springfield guys don’t give up. We show up. That’s what I saw tonight.”
The Golden Bears scored the first goal of the game, but star attackman Jake Degnan tied things up at one with a Canadian-styled bouncer. Matt Webb followed shortly after with a top of the key snipe and the assist came from Mason Nocito, as Nocito earned his 100th career point.
Later in the quarter, Bryan Stensrud picked up where he left off last game and gave a solid pass to Degnan who went behind the back for his second goal of the game. Degnan ended up with five goals, a game high for both teams. The Golden Bears didn’t back down easily, however, and the opening quarter ended with a 3-3 knot.
The second quarter started with Kevin Tierney sniping from 15 yards out, but WNE capitalized on multiple Pride turnovers and got two goals back to take a 5-4 lead. The entire game was fueled by runs, and after Gage Sperlonga ripped a shot near post to make it 5-5, Springfield quickly saw flashbacks from last year.
WNE scored with one second left on the shot clock to untie the game, and 30 seconds later scored an easy goal after calling time out with 20 seconds to go in the half. The Golden Bears had a 7-5 lead entering the half, but Bugbee thought the Pride stayed strong.
“Our record looks rough, but we aren’t that in our minds. The guys see the bigger picture, and that’s what I love about our team,” Bugbee said. “When we got down a couple of goals no one was worried. I wasn’t worried about it either.”
Out of the half, it wasn’t ideal for The Pride. Springfield got a goal, but it wasn’t long until WNE put two more on the scoreboard to give the Golden Bears a 9-6 lead. Although the momentum seemed to have carried over, Springfield had more than enough in them for a comeback.
Degnan took an isolation shot that flew past the WNE goalkeeper to cut the lead to two, and seven seconds later scored another one after Vincent Scaldone won the faceoff. WNE’s lead had dwindled, and everyone around Stagg Field knew the Pride had what it takes to pull out with a win. Nocito tied it up at nine to go into the fourth.
With ten seconds left in the shot clock, Nocito drove and made two face dodges before scoring to take the lead, and a minute later gave it to Stensrud who scored via a crease dump. Degnan got one back after a WNE goal and the lead was 12-10 for The Pride. Nocito had five points in the second half and came up huge for Springfield.
“He’s (Nocito) a fifth year guy and he showed his experience today,” Bugbee said. “Everyone played well today, but when shots weren’t falling, Mason picked us up.”
WNE eventually cut the lead to one and even got the ball back with a minute to go. The Pride wanted anything but overtime, and they pulled through. Kaden Quirk had 14 saves on the night with his 14th being the game sealing save, and then controlled the pace as the clock hit triple zero. The Springfield sideline couldn’t wait any longer to rush and celebrate with Quirk, and Bugbee noted that the defense played at a high level throughout the game.
“At times the team defense lacks, but tonight they all worked so great together, and we stopped WNE every single time when we were a man down. That’s special,” Bugbee said.
The Pride stay home and face off against NEWMAC opponent Clark at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Photo by: Ella Travaglino