By Sean Savage
@SeanSav13
The Springfield College women’s soccer team narrowly escaped a huge NEWMAC upset against Salve Regina (1-6-1) on Saturday afternoon at Brock-Affleck field.
“Our mentality and desire to win was a little bit off today,” assistant coach Brendon Boates said following the 1-1 draw in their first conference matchup – dropping the Pride to 3-1-2 on the season.
Through the first 45 minutes of play, the Pride missed multiple golden opportunities that could’ve changed the course of the game.
The brightest moment ensued on a counterattack.
With less than 10 minutes until the half, the Seahawks won a free kick on the right side of the pitch. But it wouldn’t be long before Taryn Ryan met the ball in the air, quickly bringing it down and whipping it to Mia Salmon.
The first-year carried the ball up near the midfield line – on the right side – allowing her to scan and pick out a target. She locked eyes with Olivia Raucci, who put her head down and ran in behind the Seahawks defense.
The backline was flustered, and they reacted to Salmon’s perfectly placed through ball by sending Raucci to the ground inside the box – giving the Pride a penalty and the golden go-ahead moment.
Raucci thrusted her fist in celebration, ready to finally get Springfield on the board. She took a deep breath, placed the ball at the penalty mark and stared down Reagan Moffatt. In that timeframe, there wasn’t a pin drop rippling through the field; everyone eagerly awaited to see what was going to unfold.
After a stutter-step run-up, Raucci passed the ball to the right side. However, it wasn’t enough.
Almost effortlessly, Moffatt dove on the ball, making a composed save. The missed chance sent Raucci into a swirl – it was clear emotions flooded over her.
Moreover, on the offensive front, the Pride earned eight corner kicks before halftime. They resorted to several antics, including short passes to a target at the top of the box, low-driven and lofted balls with backspin, but none of them rattled the Seahawks.
“We told them to make things happen rather than waiting for things to happen,” Boates told his team at the half. “In the first half, we were sort of sitting back and hoping teammates did things.”
While Boates admitted his squad did a better job making things happen in the second half, that didn’t come before a beautiful Seahawks sequence that stunted the crowd.
At the 46-minute mark, Olivia Tacconi had the ball in the middle of the pitch. She confidently danced with the ball into the Pride’s defensive third. Once there, Tacconi slowed down, allowing her to collect herself and weave a soft pass behind the Pride’s stout backline.
On the receiving end was Marissa Perachi, who glanced over her right shoulder as the ball collided with the instep of her foot. From there, Perachi took a few precise touches inside the box and around Maddie Daigneault, which gave Perachi enough space to slot the ball into the bottom right corner calmly.
The low-driven shot gave Ryan no chance to react and put the visitors up by one. Time continued to trickle away, with the Seahawks seeking an insurance goal and the Pride trying to fight their way back into the game.
But then, with 16 minutes left, Raucci found revenge.
The Pride were on the attack, and Molly Baxter was in possession. Hastily, she sent Raucci down the right wing with a through ball. The pass was good enough to force Moffatt off her line, and that was all Raucci needed.
With Moffatt charging out, Raucci took a touch past her on the right while getting by two defenders to create an angle to score. She looked down and passed the ball into the empty net, throwing her hands into the air before the ball even crossed the goal line.
Raucci was relieved, and the game was locked at one apiece. The Pride had six more shots before the final buzzer sounded, none of which came to fruition.
“We didn’t have that ruthless mentality in the box that we needed to put chances away,” Boates said ahead of their next game on Tuesday, Sept. 24 with Amherst.
“It’s my fault, though, the result today. I own it, and I take it,” Boates said while referencing a few coaching adjustments and decision-making on his end that he didn’t love.
“As much as the team was disappointed with the draw, this was more on me than anyone else.”
Photo: Springfield College Athletics