By Braedan Shea
@Braedan_Shea
With time running out in the third quarter of the Springfield College women’s lacrosse matchup against Roger Williams, the Pride seemed poised to enter the final frame knotted up at six. With a strong Springfield defense, and phenomenal play from Roger Williams goalkeeper Zoey Cormican, goals on Springfield’s Stagg Field were rare to come by for both programs.
After yet another Roger Williams turnover inside the quarters final minute, Pride midfielder Hannah Hibbert effortlessly scooped up the ground ball. Instead of slowing the offense, allowing for players to get back and set up, Hibbert exploded toward her goal, trying to get one last shot before the buzzer wailed. But with the Roger Williams turnover coming so early in its possession, Hibbert was just as quickly met by two Hawks defenders.
Nowhere else to go, Hibbert was forced to kick the ball back to the middle of the field to attack Lily Johnson. The Pride’s chances of scoring diminished as the clock ticked down, now just 20 seconds remaining. But much like Hibbert, Johnson had no intentions of not getting a shot off.
Taking a second to acknowledge the situation and set up the field, Johnson quickly came to the realization that Springfield’s best option was to take matters into her own hands. Doing her best impression of teammate Izzy Lalancette, Johnson put her head down and charged forward at the net. She winded up and fired a low sidearm bullet to the net’s right corner.
As the ball rattled the net, Johnson didn’t just drop her stick. Instead, making a statement that she is finally back for Springfield after a broken back last season, Johnson raised her stick and spiked it hard into the turf. With just five seconds left in the quarter, Johnson regave the Pride the lead, one that they didn’t give up for the rest of the game.
“I think it was the turning point,” said Pride head coach Jenn Thomas. From that point on, Springfield not only added three more goals in the fourth quarter, but completely shut out the Hawks in the process en route to a 10-6 victory.
While Johnson’s offense may have sparked Springfield, it was its defense that was the name of the game. After a four-goal first quarter for Roger Williams, Springfield took away the cornerstone of the Hawks offense – attacking the middle. Three of Roger Williams’ goals came from getting the ball to the middle, allowing for a near impossible one-on-one matchup for Springfield goalkeeper Haley Moody. In the final three quarters, Springfield allowed only two more inside passes (both ending in Hawks scores) by packing defenders around the net.
The Pride made life incredibly difficult for Roger Williams, allowing just 16 total shots for the whole game; only four coming in the second half. The Hawks only managed to score one goal in the second half.
“Our defense stepped up big, and that was the number one thing that saved us,” Thomas said. “At the end of the game I literally brought them in and said ‘You can thank our defenders because they played lights out.’ Our transition struggled a little bit but thank the Lord for our defenders and goalie because they really stepped up and helped us out.”
The sporadic and high-energy Pride defense also forced two shot clock violations, as well as forcing a season-high 14 turnovers.
Offensively, Springfield had to work almost as hard as the Hawks did on the other end. But instead of Roger Williams slowing the Pride down on the perimeter, it was Cormican stopping nearly every shot sent her way. Cormican had an impressive 14 saves, including two with her feet.
Johnson led Springfield with her third straight hat-trick, and took the team scoring lead away from first-year phenom Lalancette. Thomas is excited to have Johnson back in the lineup this season.
“It’s great to have [Johnson] back,” Thomas said. “She’s such a strong player, and I think what’s great is she’s not even at our peak yet. She’s gonna keep growing and keep getting stronger. We’re really excited for that.”
With an undefeated 3-0 record and the team playing well on both sides of the ball, Springfield’s energy radiates through Stagg.
“Everyone’s working super hard,” Johnson said. “It’s a lot of fun right now.”
Springfield returns to Stagg on Wednesday, March 5, against cross-town rival Western New England.
Photo courtesy of Ella Travaglino/Springfield Athletics