By Sean Savage
@SeanSav13
Despite the Springfield College women’s soccer team outshooting the visiting Wheaton Lyons 23-6 on Saturday afternoon, the NEWMAC clash ended in a 1-1 draw.
The theme of outclassing and having more goal-scoring opportunities than opponents while being unable to walk away with three points has persisted for the Pride.
In a clash against Salve Regina on Sept. 21, the Pride had 21 shots to the Seahawks five – yet the game resulted in a 1-1 scoreline.
“It’s frustrating for all of us, it’s not like the players aren’t trying to score,” assistant coach Brendon Boates said. “We talk about it all the time; if you don’t capitalize on them, one mistake and it’s a tie or loss, which is exactly what happened today.”
However, the Brock-Affleck scoreboard displayed a score of 1-0 for the majority of the match, as the Pride found the game’s first goal a minute into the contest.
Natalie Coughlin received the ball from Lily Brown for the Lyons as the match ensued, but the Pride were quick to harp on Coughlin, who was acting as a deep-lying playmaker.
The Pride gained possession and strung together a beautiful bit of interplay between Jen Walker, Natalia Mottura, Meredith Healy and Mia Salmon.
“We work on quick sharp movements and combination play all the time in practice,” Boates said. “So it’s great to see them doing it in the game, and I think they did a really good job of that.”
Healy received the ball from Mottura, which gave her a good look to test Patricia Bandrup from close range. However, while looking where to place the ball between the two posts, Healy’s head swiveled, and she quickly turned her attention to Salmon, who snuck away into the right side of the box.
Healy weighed her two options and opted to play the extra pass, which threw Bandrup off as she was expecting a shot. From there, Salmon calmly passed the ball into the left-side – netting her fourth goal of the season.
Moreover, within the first five minutes of play, the Pride had five shots – the dichotomy between the two sides was apparent.
The Pride, who will visit Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, Oct. 9, advanced the ball with a tiki-taka style of play. From the backline, Madison Daly played exceptionally well, exuding composure as she shut down Mackenna Reynolds, who had the majority of touches for the Lyons attack through the first half.
Meanwhile, the Lyons were clinging by a thread. They played a scrappy offensive game, trying to advance the ball by any means. Their backline had to throw themselves onto the ground to block multiple shots, while hastily.
The Pride’s prowess flustered Lyons head coach Mary-Frances Monroe; from the sideline, she was hollering, “Come on, let’s play!”
Before each coach delivered their halftime message, the Pride had two more promising one-on-ones against Bandrup – from Salmon and Ryan Prystowski – but didn’t capitalize.
“We comfortably should’ve been ahead by four or five, but if you don’t finish your chances you pay the price,” Boates said.
The story of the second half was much the same until the final 25 minutes of play.
Maya Thomas darted down the right flank – leaving three Pride defenders in the dust – before earning a corner. The run sparked a jolt of momentum, and as Julia Sternat stepped up to take the corner, the Lyons were eager to capitalize.
Sternat met the ball with her right foot as it crossed over her body due to the tenacity of the kick. The ball bobbled inside Taryn Ryan’s box, and as a few seconds passed, the Pride failed to clear it. The ball trickled over to the right with help from Thomas and found Lauren DiTullio, who ripped it past Ryan’s right side.
The match ended with the Pride having eight shots in the second half and 17 shots more than the Lyons.
“It’s tough; we were pushing to get the win, where the opposition was maybe happy getting a draw,” Boates said as the Pride moved to 4-1-4 on the season. “It’s a bit of mental toughness in the box; once we sort that out, we will be okay.”
Another aspect to consider is that the Pride has to play without one of its playmakers, Kaitlyn Suller.
In their 1-1 game against No. 2 Amherst on Sept. 24, Suller went down and ended up tearing her ACL. Her absence was missed in the middle of the pitch, as she plays with a fierce style that’s hard for opponents to keep up with.
“You can’t just replace her; it’s just not possible; she’s one of the four or five best players in the entire league,” Boates said.
“The positive aspect of it – there’s nothing positive about losing Kaitlyn – but players like Ryan Prystowski, who has done really well, get more minutes now that Kaitlyn is out. Same with Ava Lombardo, who is playing really well, so our first-year players get a little more time than they maybe would’ve.”
Photo: Springfield College Athletics