By Sean Savage
@SeanSav13
The Springfield College women’s soccer team gave it their all on Senior Day Saturday afternoon, but fell 2-0 to a ferocious NEWMAC opponent, Emerson College.
“They [the 12 seniors and a graduate student] have done so much for the program,” head coach Kristin Cannon said. “We are so happy to have them along with their leadership, energy and experience.”
Both teams came out thundering.
Mu Kue and Sadie Crozier were on the hunt eight minutes into the match, where the duo’s nice combination play in the middle of the Lions defensive third.
Crozier then advanced the ball to Kaitlyn Suller, who lined up 12 yards out from goal and had a one-on-one shot against the Lions keeper. Just as Suller lined up to strike the ball, the official halted the play – Suller was called for offsides.
Not even five minutes later, the Lions had a rebuttal to the Pride’s dangerous attack.
Madeline Khaw had the ball down the Lions right flank, and she sent in a low-driven pass. The ball was met by Brittney Righetti, who had time on the ball before slotting the first goal.
She tucked the ball into the far posts’ corner, leaving Pride goalie Taryn Ryan at the near post.
Despite the floodgates being opened, the Pride did not go away quickly. With 17 minutes left in the first half, the Pride had its second golden opportunity.
Jen Walker had the ball down the right side of the pitch and found Meredith Healy at the top of the box.
Healy drove the ball home with a beautifully slotted shot into the right corner, but the official ruled an offsides call again.
Both teams averted any danger for the remainder of the half. As the buzzer sounded, the Lions had five shots on goal to the Prides zero.
Cannon made a total of eight first-half subs in hopes of evening the scoreboard.
“We have so many players that can play at a high level,” Cannon said. “We tried to see what we could unlock with different groups and partnerships of players.”
As the second half ensued, all the momentum shifted to Emerson. For the first 15 minutes, the ball sat in the Prides defensive half. In the 60th minute, the Lions capitalized on the given opportunity, extending their lead to 2-0.
Katie Wojcik played the ball from the middle of the pitch to the left flank, where Gina Lukoskie had Kate Minoudis between her and the goal.
Lukoskie hit a stepover and pushed the ball to her left foot, giving her enough room to give it a go. The ball curled into the net’s lower right side, and Ryan was unable to make the very difficult save.
The Pride saw one more chance as Suller received a pass from the backline, scoop turned past Yoshiko Slater and followed with a pass that split the Lions defense.
Natalya Pennant snuck in behind the defenders but was unable to get a touch on the ball before Schaub swept in and gathered the pass.
Unfortunately, the Pride never tested Schaub through the 90 minutes, as they finished with no shots on goal.
With the loss, the Pride dropped to 7-4-2 on the season and suffered their second conference loss on the season.
“We have to tighten some stuff up,” Cannon said. “We have to take the learning elements to keep moving forward.”
The Pride will look for a quick turnaround as they host WPI on Wednesday, Oct. 18, in another conference joust. Three more conference games will follow to close the Prides regular season.
Photo courtesy of Springfield Athletics