Springfield, Mass. - November 4, 2014 - Three goals in the first 31:16 of the contest from junior forward Nicole Fowler (Maynard, Mass.) jumpstarted the Springfield College women's soccer team as the Pride cruised to a 3-1 victory in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Quarterfinals over the Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday evening at Brock-Affleck Field.

With the win, the Pride remain unbeaten in its last 10 games and improves to 11-3-4 overall on the season and advance to the NEWMAC semifinals and will play the third-seeded Babson College Beavers on Saturday at MIT. However, with the loss, the Bears fall to 8-9-2 as its season comes to a close.

Senior goalkeeper Lucy Gillett (Rockville Center, N.Y.) and freshman Ciara Boucher (Manchester, Conn.) split the duties in net for Springfield, as Gillett finished with just one save and claimed her 11th victory of the season, while Boucher finished the contest with one save of her own. For the Bears, senior Holly Moore (Pittsfield, Mass.) was challenged all night and finished the game with 11 saves. The Pride held a 7-1 advantage in corners on the night.

The Pride dominated the first half of play, as the hosts went into halftime with a 3-0 lead and a 19-1 advantage in shots.

Just over five minutes into the game, Fowler broke loose behind the Coast Guard defense, giving her a breakaway with Moore. As the junior crossed into the box, she tapped the ball past Moore to open the scoring, giving the Pride a 1-0 advantage.

Just 4:16 later, junior midfielder Jessica Miller (Southbury, Conn.) picked up a loose ball near the midline and broke down the right side. Just before reaching Moore, Miller slid a pass over to Fowler waiting on the back post who fired a ball underneath the crossbar to extend the Pride's lead to two.

At the 14:44 mark of the first half, Kimberly Quiles (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) gained control of a loose ball on the left side of the field and forwarded a pass to Fowler, who launched a shot over the hands of Moore for her third marker of the contest.

Just 9:10 into the second half, sophomore midfielder Alyssa Sato (Waldorf, Md.) put a shot on goal after she collected a corner kick from senior Lindsay Duplessis (Rye, N.H.). After Boucher made the initial save, the rebound deflected right to Terry Netusil (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) who found the back of the net to cut the Bears' deficit to two.

After back-and-forth play for the remainder of the second stanza, Springfield fended off some late chances from the Bears and were able to close out the 3-1 victory.