Springfield, Mass. – September 14, 2013 – Bolstered by an outstanding team effort, the Springfield College menÂ's soccer team defeated the Westfield State University Owls 3-0 Saturday afternoon at Irv Schmid Sports Complex.

With the win, the Pride improve their record to 3-1 (0-0) while the Owls drop to 2-3 overall.

It was all Springfield in the early goings, pressing the Westfield State defense for the first twenty minutes of the game. With 14:11 remaining in the first half, the Pride broke open the scoring when an outstanding individual effort from Michael Fowler (Maynard, Mass.). The senior forward dribbled the ball down the left side of the field and cut back into the middle of field before blasting the ball past the outstretched hands of junior goalkeeper Keith Hevey (Chicopee, Mass.), giving the Pride a 1-0 edge.

Springfield kept the pressure on the Owls for the remainder of the first half, tallying 23 total shots, with seven of those shots on cage.

With 29:36 remaining in the second half, Fowler received the ball in the middle of the field and sent a through ball behind the Westfield State defense. Utilizing his speed, junior midfielder Kevin Nowak (Plainsboro, N.J.) out ran two Owl defenders to catch up to the ball before slotting home a shot into the bottom right corner, putting Springfield up 2-0.

Springfield took advantage of its momentum to add another strike in the 69th minute as sophomore forward Austin Vico (Plymouth, Mass) fought for body position in the box, won the one-on-one and fired the ball past Hevey.

Hevey finished the game with eight saves, while Springfield goaltenders Billy Schmid (Wethersfield, Conn.) and Zach Richard (Millbury, Mass.) combined for the shutout, making two saves a piece.

The Pride look to continue the early-season success when it hosts Western Connecticut Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.