Springfield, Mass. – October 4, 2011 – The Springfield College field hockey team erupted for six goals as it toppled visiting Smith College, 6-3, in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on a rainy Tuesday evening at Stagg Field.

Springfield, which had totaled seven goals in its last eight games combined, improves to 1-8, 1-2 in league play. The Pioneers dropped to 2-8, 0-4.

Leading the way for Springfield was sophomore Kelly Gallo, who powered the Pride offense with three goals and an assist in the win.

Smith got on the scoreboard first just over seven minutes into the contest. After earning a corner, the ball moved to Sara Mercier, who quickly dumped it off to Allie Stein on the left side of the Springfield arc. Stein gathered the ball and rifled it passed Pride goalie Tory Sowizral into the backboard.

The Pride would rally from the early deficit, responding eight minutes later with the tying goal. Gallo stole the ball from the SmithÂ's midfield and dribbled passed three Pioneer defenders on the way to the goal. With just the goalie left to beat, Gallo set herself and sent a bullet into the left side of the goal to tie things up at one goal apiece.

Two minutes later, Gallo struck again to put the Pride in front for good. Alexa Carlson took a pass in front of the Smith net, drawing the goalie to her side. Gallo darted in on the right side and Carlson flipped her a pass for a one-timer goal to give the Pride the 2-1 advantage at the half.

After the break, the Pride padded their lead with a goal four minutes into the half. Off the corner, Carlson found Jenn Califano for the score, increasing the lead to 3-1. Smith bounced back under two minute later with a redirect goal from Alexa DeJesus to make it a one-goal contest.

The offensive action continued in a flurry as less than two minutes later, the Pride responded yet again with a goal off of a corner. Gallo fired a pass to Kaila Dee, who sent the ball on to Califano for her second goal of the game, and what turned out to be the game-winner. Gallo then scored her third goal of the contest off a Liz Hurley pass, putting the Pride up 5-2 with 21 minutes remaining. Kayla Sokol iced the game with a score off of a Gallo assist in the 55th minute. The Pioneers added one more tally to their total, pulling within 6-3 when Mercier found Sydney Burns for the goal at the 58:07 mark.

Smith goalie Savannah Lawson racked up eight saves, while her counterpart Sowizral needed just one to get the win. Springfield outshot Smith 22-6 on the contest.

The Pride return to action on Thursday when it travels to take on Tufts in non-conference play beginning at 5:00 pm.