Springfield, Mass. – September 26, 2009 – Morgan Rein scored a pair of goals to lead the Springfield College field hockey team past rival Babson, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon in both squad’s New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener.

The Pride now improves to 4-3, 1-0 in conference action, while the Beavers drop to 4-3, 0-1 in league play.

Rein struck first for the hosts just over 12 minutes into the contest after an impressive individual effort in front of the cage. After her initial shot was saved, Rein followed up the rebound with a thunderous shot into the goal to give Springfield its only goal in the opening 35 minutes of play.

Babson poured on the pressure to start the second half and its efforts paid off as it knotted the game at one. Sarah Fredlund took the ball along the endline and fired a centering pass across the goalmouth to teammate Colleen Kelly. Kelly made the most of her opportunity as she knocked home Babson’s lone goal of the game at the 47:08 mark.

Rein would not be denied on the day though as she scored an outstanding goal five minutes later to give Springfield a lead it would not relinquish. Liz Hurley delivered a pass to Rein, who, with her back to the goal, turned and flipped a shot into the upper corner of the cage to give Springfield a 2-1 advantage.

Sam Williams gave the Pride a two-goal cushion as she lifted a penalty stroke into the upper left corner of the cage with 7:55 remaining in regulation.

For the game, Babson held a 13-12 advantage in shots and a 13-11 advantage in penalty corners. Alison McCarthy finished with 12 saves between the pipes for the Pride, while her counterpart, Jessica Pashos totaled eight saves in goal for Babson.

Springfield hits the field again tomorrow as it will take on sixth-ranked Cortland at home in a non-conference contest at 1:00 pm.