By Noah Schuessler
With a roaring Stagg field on a warm, first Saturday in April, Izzy Lalancette was fouled late in the 4th quarter in a tightly contested women’s lacrosse game against the #17 ranked Babson Beavers. Springfield College held a slim 10-9 lead with about 8 minutes left in the game. Powering through the defense, Lalancette found the back of the net to give Springfield an 11-9 lead, a lead that would hold through to the end of the game.
The Pride had faced early challenges in the season throughout the month of March, but that wasn’t stopping head coach Jenn Thomas from looking ahead to a busy April that included many NEWMAC rivals. In front of their energetic fans on a busy day on the Springfield campus, women’s lacrosse on Stagg Field proved to be the place to be. Holding a 4-6 record, the team knew that a win over a ranked NEWMAC rival could change the course of their season.
“I think it means so much for the program, because I think we’ve been talking about belief and confidence, and I think in March we knew it was going to be a heavy, heavy March,” Thomas said. “I think today just showed like, wow, they finally are believing in each other, and were so focused on the game plan.”
In a game that was filled with momentum swings left and right, the Pride had been able to capitalize on a huge boost in the second quarter which featured three goals in under four minutes. Lalancette, who had an efficient afternoon, led the day in goals for Springfield having four goals with only four shots on goal.
“I think it’s a great turning point for us, and I know it means a lot to the seniors and our coach, to beat Babson for the first time in their careers,” Lalancette said, “I think just really playing for each other and remembering that we do this together all the way through.”
As the Springfield offense powered through, it would ironically turn out that their biggest opponent was the cross bar of the goal. Despite an efficient offensive performance, Springfield found themselves on the unlucky side of 4 shots that bounced off the cross bar, mere centimeters from going in. That however, didn’t slow the Pride down as they persistently pressured the Beaver defense
The Pride versus the Beavers turned out to be a game of two halves. A dominant offensive performance for both sides in the first half gave the impression that this game would turn into a goal scoring masterclass with the Pride leading 8-7 at halftime. Yet, it was the second half that showed the defensive capabilities that both teams possessed.
Holding on to a tight lead through the entirety of the second half, it came down to the Pride’s defense to hold it down. Sophomore goalie Cedar Conrad came up with multiple incredible saves in the 4th quarter to propel the Pride to the finish line.
After defeating Babson, whom the Pride have not won against since 2022, the team will look ahead towards the rest of their regular season schedule to best prepare them for the ever-challenging NEWMAC conference tournament at the end of the month.
“Our goal definitely after Coast Guard was to win out the rest of the season,” Coach Thomas said, “We told them we can, so that’s really the biggest focus. It’s all about our game plan and our discipline.”
Springfield currently sits in 6th place in the NEWMAC standings, but an upcoming stretch of conference games give the Pride the opportunity to swiftly move up in the standings. Their next matchup pits the Pride against Smith College, a NEWMAC rival sitting in 4th place in the conference standings, on Wednesday at 6pm on Stagg Field.
(Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)