Springfield, Mass. - September 27, 2014 - A five-point performance from senior Ryan Malone (Chicopee, Mass.) and four points from captain Drew Sommer (West Chester, Pa.) paced the Springfield College men's soccer team to a convincing 6-0 victory over Emerson College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match-up on Saturday afternoon at Brock-Affleck Field.

With the win, the Pride picked up three crucial points in the NEWMAC standings, improving to 4-1-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference. However, with the loss, Emerson Falls to 1-4-3 overall and remains winless in the NEWMAC at 0-2. The Pride held a 19-10 advantage in shots as well as a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks. 

Junior goalkeeper Billy Schmid (Wethersfield, Conn.) made a pair of saves and picked up the victory to go along with his fourth shut out of the season, while sophomore Zach Richard (Millbury,, Mass.) came into the contest midway through the second half and made four saves of his own to preserve the clean sheet. Carter Bowers (Gorham, Maine) of Emerson posted six saves for the Lions. 

Just 3:04 into the contest, a corner kick sent in by Curtis Bolduc (South Windsor, Conn.) found its way to freshman Christian Steidle (Owego, N.Y.), who then controlled the ball, and found Malone in the box, only to fire a shot into the left side of the net to give the Pride a 1-0 advantage.

With 6:10 remaining in the opening half, senior Joe LaBella (Wethersfield, Conn.) passed the ball to a streaking Malone on the right side, who drove a shot at the cage that was redirected in by junior Connor Archambault (Torrance, Calif.) and into the back of the net to push the Pride's lead to two. 

Just 5:40 into the second half, Taylor Gilfoy (Holliston, Mass.) forced a turnover deep in Emerson territory and carried the ball towards the Lions goal. At the last second, the sophomore forward slid a pass across the goal mouth to Luke Alvaro (Chicopee, Mass.) on the back side of the net, who finished his chance into the back of the net to give the Pride a 3-0 advantage.

Following a throw-in by Nick Kobel (Webster, Mass.), junior forward A.J. Vico (Plymouth, Mass.) ripped a point-blank shot on the cage that was saved by Bowers, but the rebound bounced right to Sommer, who found Matt Dickmann (Paxton, Mass.) wide open for the Pride's fourth goal of the contest.

After gaining possession of the ball near the midline, Evan Cheman (South Windsor, Conn.) forwarded a pass to a streaking Sommer, who then finished a shot past Bowers to give the Pride a 5-0 cushion.

Minutes later, Gilfoy sent Malone into Emerson's defensive zone with a through ball, which the senior was able to bend past Bowers from well outside the box to push the Pride's lead to six.

The Pride will be back in action on Sunday, Sept. 28 when it will travel down the road to take on Western New England University in a non-conference battle. The game is set to begin at 12 p.m.