Vincent Gallo
Assistant Sports Editor
@VinGallo731
The Springfield College women’s lacrosse team defeated the Smith College Pioneers yesterday by the score of 12-4. With the victory, Springfield snapped a two game losing streak in its final regular season home match.
“This game was big for us,” said Bianca Raniolo. “Trinity was a huge game for us, and Wheaton was the same thing [both ended in losses]. We needed to snap out of it and this [win] was good for our confidence.”
The Pride established distance between Smith with a 5-0 run to start the first, and held the Pioneers to one goal (scored by Emily Biggs) in the opening stanza. Smith scored three times in the second half, tallied by Julia Hamilton (one) and Ray Silveria (two). But the Pride countered the Smith attack with seven goals after halftime, and kept the game out of reach.
Gabby Anderson registered seven saves on 11 shots for the game. Kristina Krull collected two ground balls and two goals in the contest. Shelby Corsano scored four goals and pulled in six draw controls. Kristen Steidler and Heather Raniolo combined for four goals, earning two each. Bridget Thibodeau beat Smith to eight draw controls, while Ann Mahoney registered four. Bianca Raniolo relentlessly pursued the ball throughout the game, finishing with four caused turnovers and three ground balls. She also collected one goal and two assists.
Smith guarded the close shot well early, but it was only a matter of time before the Pride’s offense adjusted.
“One of the things that we’ve talked about [throughout the game] is that [we were facing] a lefty goalie,” Bianca Raniolo said. “We’re not used to seeing that so we focused on placing our shots, taking the extra step to fake, look, and put it home.”
The Pioneers were able to beat out Springfield when it came to saves, winning that contest 12-7. The Pride won the draw control contest 13-4. They also beat Smith in the shots category (34-11). Springfield turned the Pioneers over 28 times throughout the course of the game and held it to a 37 percent clear rate.
The Pride must win the rest of their games to claim home field advantage for the upcoming NEWMAC tournament. Springfield will hit the road to face (10-3, 6-0) Babson on Saturday and (9-5, 4-2) Emerson on Wednesday.