By Owen Farley
@owenfarley_18
SPRINGFIELD – On Saturday afternoon, Springfield hosted an undefeated NEWMAC opponent, WPI, at Brock-Affleck Field.
The first six minutes was back and forth between both programs, passing the ball around with neither team making runs to goal until Springfield’s Connor Policarpio ripped a shot from the top of the box and the ball bounced off of the crossbar. This was the closest shot on goal for the first 13 minutes.
With his first shot just missing, determination never escaped Policarpio. Just over seven minutes after his first shot the WPI offense made a bad pass, opening the middle of the field. Pride forward Parker Thornton took the ball down to the WPI 18-yard box, where he flicked the ball to Policarpio, who ripped a shot into the back of the net to give the Pride a 1-0 lead with 31:30 left to play in the first half.
The Springfield defense continued to play very aggressively, not allowing any shots on goal as the WPI offense kept finding offensive opportunities, but the Pride defense was able to deflect the shots.
Good defense led to good offense for Springfield. With 14:25 left in the first half, Thornton brought the ball down into the WPI box and sent in a cross from the front of the six yard line. Meeting the ball was Springfield’s Cole Sampson, who slid in and tapped the ball past the keeper, extending the Pride’s lead to two unanswered before the half.
WPI’s Santino Bazzini eventually got a shot on goal eight minutes before the half was over, but Springfield goalkeeper Noah Pote made a great diving save to keep the scoreline 2-0 going into halftime.
The second half of the match saw each side getting chippy with one another, and tensions began to rise as many fouls were committed. As the confrontations between players started to unfold, Springfield did not let this bother it.
“We make practice environments that are super competitive,” Springfield head coach Tommy Crabill said. “We had a great week of training lead up to that match.”
The first 19 minutes of the second half was quiet beside many fouls being committed until WPI had a free kick following a Springfield foul. Engineers midfielder Anthony Previte lined up for the kick and launched it into the pack inside the 18 yard box, where Aidan McLoughlin headed the ball into the net to cut the Pride’s lead to 2-1 with 26 minutes to play in the game.
The game continued to be chippy after WPI got on the board, as both teams players had one yellow card each and both teams combined for 22 fouls in the end.
Springfield was at a disadvantage with shots on goal, as the stat sheet read 6-3 in favor of WPI’s, but when the final whistle blew it ended with a Springfield 2-1 victory, defeating a team that was previously undefeated NEWMAC play.
“It’s obviously a huge win,” Crabill said. “Anytime you can get three points against a great opponent is good, and every opponent is tough in our league so it’s a massive three points for sure.”
The Pride boosted its record to 5-6-2 on the season, while being 3-1-1 in the conference – tying them for first place in the NEWMAC with Babson.
Springfield will look to continue its win streak on Wednesday, October 23rd against NEWMAC opponent Babson, who are now the lone undefeated team in conference play, at Babson Park at 3:00 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics