Springfield, Mass. – March 5, 2014 – Despite 11 saves from senior goalkeeper Anne Versprille (Franklin, Mass.) and a pair of goals from senior Kelly Gallo (Westfield, Mass.), the Springfield College womenÂ's lacrosse team dropped an 8-4 decision to the Williams College Ephs on Wednesday evening at Stagg Field.

With the loss, the Pride dropped their first decision of the 2014 season, falling to 2-1 overall. However, with the win, the Ephs improve to 2-0 overall.

Williams opened up the scoring with a tally from Bridget Malicki (Loudonville, N.Y.) just 2:14 into the contest. The junior dodged down the right alley and snuck one past Versprille to give the EphsÂ' an early advantage.

At the 22:49 mark, Molly Belk (Charlotte, N.C.) tallied a goal of her own to push WilliamsÂ' lead to two. Just two minutes later, Nancy Palmer (Lakeville, Conn.) extended the WilliamsÂ' lead to 3-0 on a free-position shot.

Receiving a free-position shot of her own, Malicki added her second goal of the game with 4:40 left on the clock.

With 1:22 remaining in the first half, Emily Rodgers (Durham, N.H.) dodged from behind the cage and found Jennifer McDonough (Holbrook, N.Y.) on the crease, who fired a shot past senior Ali Piltch (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) to get Springfield on the board.

The EphsÂ' took a 4-1 lead into the half despite nine first-half saves from Versprille.

At the 20:13 mark of the second half, Gallo scored an unassisted goal, pulling the Pride to within two.

Less than one minute later, junior attack Maeve Mulholland (Manhasset N.Y.) netted one past Versprille to regain their three-point lead, holding a 5-2 advantage with 19:34 left in the contest.

Palmer added her second goal of the game at the 14:19 mark after burying an inside feed from Malicki to put Williams up 6-2. Rebecca McGovern (Weymouth, Mass.) extended the EphsÂ' lead to 7-2 off of a free-position shot just 27 seconds later.

With 6:23 left in the contest, Heather Raniolo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) received a pass from Rodgers and dodged through a pair of Williams defenders before firing a shot past Piltch to bring the score to 7-3 in the EphsÂ' favor.

Just 1:09 later, Gallo added her second goal of the game off of an assist from Raniolo, pulling the Pride to within three with 5:14 left on the clock.

Nancy Palmer iced the Springfield momentum and buried her third goal of the contest in transition with 1:10 remaining. Alyssa Amos (Bennington, Vt.) picked up a loose groundball, passed it up to Anne Rehfuss (Latham, Mass.) who found Palmer on the crease one-on-one with Versprille.

The Pride will be back in action when they host Plymouth State on Saturday. The game is set to start at 3:00 p.m.