Cambridge, Mass. - November 8, 2015 - Emerging from a penalty-kick shootout for the third-straight time, the Springfield College women's soccer program earned its fourth-consecutive New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship, defeating Babson College on Sunday afternoon at Steinbrenner Stadium on the campus of MIT.

For her efforts throughout the postseason, sophomore goalkeeper Ciara Boucher (Manchester, Conn.) was named the NEWMAC Women's Soccer Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Boucher finished the contest with five saves over 110 minutes of play, but was recognized for her efforts in all of the Pride's penalty-kick shootouts, as she made six stops throughout the tournament. Her counterpart, Elizabeth Mycock (Windham, Maine), finished the contest with three saves on the afternoon.

Springfield has now earned an automatic qualification into the 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championshp Tournament, and will find out its fate during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, November 9 at 1 p.m.

This marks the first time in the history of NEWMAC Women's Soccer that a team has advanced through each round of the conference tournament via winning a penalty-kick shootout. Additionally, the Pride become the first four seed to win a NEWMAC title since Babson College won as the fourth seed in 1998.

With the win, Springfield, which has now claimed six titles in the past eight seasons, improves to 11-5-5 on the season, while Babson's season comes to a close at a mark of 14-3-5. The Pride finished the contest with 12 shots to the Beavers' 10, while Springfield also held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.

After 80 minutes of grueling, back-and forth play, the Pride finally broke the scoreless tie, when sophomore Kim Quiles (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) sent in a cross from the right flank, finding the foot of classmate Dakota Kelly (Bethany, Conn.), who one-touched the ball into the back of the net to give the Pride a 1-0 lead with 9:40 left in the game.

Just 3:28 later, Babson equalized the game, when Jessica Fernandes (Pawtucket, R.I.) got loose behind Springfield's back line, and took a point-blank bid at the cage that Boucher stuffed, but the freshman corralled the rebound and fired a shot into the back of the net to even the score at one apiece. 

The two sides shared chances through the overtime period, but saves by both Boucher and Mycock kept the game even at one after 110 minutes, forcing a penalty-kick shootout.

In the shootout, just as she had done the previous two times, junior Elizabeth Monsen (Wayne, N.J.) converted her shot, while Kelsey Ford (Rockville Center, N.Y.) made her chance to make it 1-1 after the first round. In the second frame, Aly Morell (New Britain, Conn.) was unable to convert, while Boucher came up big against Emma Dineen (Hinsdale, Illi.) to keep the score 1-1 after two. In Round three, Julia Cormier (New Bedford, Mass.) found the back of the net, before she was equalled by Taylor Goldsborough (Williston, Vt.), before Nicole Fowler (Hudson, Mass.) and Jennifer Narlee (Medfield, Mass.) followed suit with conversions of their own.

In Round five, Jessica Miller (Southbury, Conn.) nailed her chance, while Babson's Olivia Kerester (Chappaqua, N.Y.) also scored to make it 4-4, thus forcing a sudden death frame. In the sixth round, senior captain Brooke Hattinger (Weymouth, Mass.) rifled a shot into the back of the cage, before Boucher dove to her right and made a championship-winning save on Meghan Lee (Stow, Mass.) to give the Pride the victory.