By Sean Savage
@SeanSav13
On Wednesday, Oct. 4 , Brock-Affleck Field saw one team dominate every facet of a women’s soccer game.
Despite the shots on goal being seven to five in favor of the visitors, the quality of play was the defining factor.
The visiting Coast Guard Academy could not keep up with the Springfield College women’s soccer team in the 90-minute matchup.
“It was a great battle today,” Springfield head coach Kristin Cannon said. “There were huge positives in scoring two great goals and keeping a shutout.”
The Pride have seen much success when facing the Bears. Since 2000, the Pride have netted 78 goals while conceding only 14, with a record of 22-1-1 against the Bears.
Tonight was no different.
From the moment the Bear’s Lula Vlases passed the ball back – signaling kickoff – it was a one-sided affair.
In the game’s opening minutes, the Pride were on the prowl. On its first attack, Karly Suppicich flicked a beautiful backheel pass right by the Bears defender – Chase Merrick – leaving Meredith Healy with a shot that sailed just left of the woodwork.
The Pride’s offense was back with better defense, which was electrifying with its press. Springfield played with poise, control and a high line of confrontation, leaving the Bears stumbling and not knowing how to respond.
For Coast Guard, its offense consisted of sending long balls down the flank, hoping to sneak past the backline.
The Bear’s best look of the night, and the only shot that tested Taryn Ryan, was at the 39-minute mark:
Karagan Bulger received the ball and performed a dummy – letting it pass through her legs as she ran onto it – before ripping a shot that made Ryan test her acrobatic skills: throwing and twisting her body to push the ball over the bar.
The scoring opened off a set piece with seven minutes left in the half. Natalia Mottura placed the ball down for a corner kick as her teammates lined up at the far post.
Right before Mottura’s hand went up to single for the players to start their runs, Sadie Crozier realized something.
“Before the kick was taken, I noticed I was taller than my defender,” Crozier said.
As Mottura approached the ball, Crozier stealthily darted to the front post before rising up and sailing the ball past Emily Scharnitzky’s left side with a header.
“Set pieces are critical and are definitely something we work on,” Cannon said. “I was really excited for our players: it was a great service by Nat and a great finish by Sadie.”
The Bears had three other looks before the end of the first, all that Ryan decimated.
Cannon made many rotations in the second half, including moving Maddie Daigneault from the backline to the attack.
“Our job as coaches is to constantly evaluate what is happening on the field,” Cannon said. “Maddie possesses a lot of different skills, so we gave her a shot up top, and she did a great job for us today.”
Daigneault wreaked havoc when she joined the attack, having a chance of her own 58 minutes into the game. Gabby Scott played a pitch-perfect through ball, but the opportunity sailed right.
In the midst of the second half, the joust became a bit more physical.
“Coast Guard was really fast, physical and strong,” Cannon said. “We knew it was going to be a battle.”
Over the span of 60 seconds, the Bears had two great looks to equalize. The first came with just 12 minutes left on the clock as Ryan battered a pass away from Mia Forti, who was trying to find her teammates.
As Ryan was on the ground, the ball found Bulger, who tried placing it past her, but Ryan was up for the task, making a miraculous save.
Bulger would soon find the ball again before laying it off to Celia Bertrand, who ran onto it and blasted the ball so hard it left the crossbar reverberating.
The Pride tacked on one more goal before the end of the night in the last minute of the game.
Kaitlyn Suller lunged in the middle of the pitch to place a ball through the heart of the Bear’s defense. Healy turned on the jets flying past the Bears backline with the ball as she tucked the dagger in the bottom left corner, a shot nobody could stop.
“I am really proud of this group,” Cannon said. “It is tough to grind out midweek wins, especially at this point in the season.”
With the win, the Pride improved to 6-2-2 on the season while remaining undefeated and on fire in conference play.
On Saturday, Oct. 7, the Pride will be tested to keep the ball rolling in an away matchup with MIT.