Springfield, Mass. – November 5, 2013 - The Springfield College womenÂ's soccer team advances to the New England WomenÂ's and MenÂ's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) semifinals after taking down WPI, 3-1 in the NEWMAC quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Brock-Affleck Field.

Third-seeded Springfield was led by sophomore forward Nicole Fowler (Maynard, Mass.) who tallied a goal and an assist in the win.

The Pride got off to a hot start, finding the back of the net just 44 seconds into the game. FowlerÂ's signature flip throw was controlled by Ashley Carresi (Billerica, Mass.) who fired it in for a quick one-goal lead.

In the 14th minute, the sixth-seeded Engineers got on the board. Erin Bracken (Bridgewater, Mass.) made a nice cross pass into the box that took an unlucky deflection off a Springfield defender for an own goal to tie the game.

After being fouled in the box, Nina Vital (Ludlow, Mass.) gave the Pride the lead for good in the 23rd minute, slotting home a penalty kick for a 2-1 game.

Springfield took a two-goal advantage in the 35th minute off a strike from Fowler. The sophomore broke through several defenders and ripped a shot from 20 yards out into the upper corner of the net. The Pride led 3-1 at halftime.

WPIÂ's Maddie Willer (Penfield, N.Y.) had several big saves in the second half to keep the Engineers in it. She finished the day with 11 saves.

Lucy Gillett (Rockville Centre (N.Y.) was big in goal for Springfield. The junior made a huge save with six minutes left in the game off a shot from Courtney Langley (Fairfield, Maine) to maintain a two-goal lead.

Gillett tallied two saves in goal for Springfield to earn the win. The Pride outshot the Engineers 24-4 and held a 3-2 edge in corner kicks. Springfield improves to 12-4-3 while WPI ends the season 10-7-2.

The Pride will take on No. 2 Wheaton in the NEWMAC Semifinals on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at MIT in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game. The other semifinal will pit top-seeded MIT versus fifth-seeded Babson, with the championship game taking place on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at MIT.