Amherst, Mass. - February 21, 2015 - The Springfield College men's lacrosse team dropped an 11-10 overtime decision to Nazareth College at a windy and snowy McGuirk Alumni Stadium on the campus of UMass Amherst on Saturday.

The Pride, which was ranked Springfield, which was ranked 19th the country according to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III Pre-Season Poll, falls to 1-1, while the Golden Flyers improved to 1-0.

Tony LaGuerre (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) led the Pride with three goals and an assist, while Brendan Boss (West Springfield, Mass.) tacked on two goals and two helpers.  Bryce Serriello (Cape Cod, Mass.) scored two first-half goals and Dylan Sheehan (Massapequa, N.Y.) delivered three assists.  Brendan Dooley (Setauket, N.Y.) picked up a team-best six ground balls and Kevin Ostrom (Cape Cod, Mass.) made 10 stops between the pipes.

TThe Golden Flyers were paced by the duo of Troy Haefele and Luke Wooters, who each had five points to lead all other players. Haefele had three goals and two assists while Wooters had two goals and three assists. Matt O'Neill finished with three goals and one assist.

Nazareth tallied advantages in shots (31-23), ground balls collected (32-20), and faceoffs won (14-10). The Golden Flyers were also a perfect 10-10 on clear attempts while holding the Pride to 9-17, including a combined 1-7 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Traditionally an evenly-matched early season game, these teams last three meetings have been decided by a combined four goals.

Nazareth maintained the possession for the final minute of overtime. With 10 seconds to play in the session, Ostrom made a terrific save on an attempt by Kyle Fanning, but junior Troy Haefele scooped the loose ball and found Nick Arnold for the game-winning strike with just seven ticks on the clock.

The Golden Flyers controlled most of the overtime period following the faceoff victory by senior Drew Simoneau. When Nazareth turned the ball over midway through the session, the Golden Flyers prevented Springfield's clear and reclaimed the possession. Nazareth finished overtime with a 4-0 advantage in shots.

Following a strike from Serriello, Haefele converted another man-up opportunity after receiving a pass from Joe Eiskant. The 3-3 score lasted about five minutes before Serriello gave Springfield the 4-3 edge with 76 seconds to play before halftime after he unleashed a shot from 15 yards out into the top shelf.

After a relatively slow first half, the teams combined for 13 goals in the second half, including eight total goals in the third quarter. The Golden Flyers scored three of the first four goals of the period to claim a 6-5 lead. Nazareth's goals were from Hunter Burdick after he received a pass from Wooters, Fallo, who was also assisted by Wooters, and O'Neill, who was assisted by Matt McDermott. Boss and Dom Abate (Beverly, Mass.) answered for the Pride to temporarily reclaim their lead, however, Wooters and O'Neill scored in a 23-second span in the final two minutes to reclaim Nazareth's lead, 8-7, going into the final quarter.

Springfield tallied a pair of man-up goals in the first 3:40 of the fourth to tie the game 9-9. LaGuerre buried a feed from Sheehan just 26 seconds into the quarter, while Tom Hurley (Goffstown, N.H.) blistered a shot into the top right corner for his first-career goal. Between the Pride's markers, Arnold found O"Neill, who scored his third goal of the game for the Golden Flyers.

With just under seven minutes to play in regulation, Haefele gave Nazareth a 10-9 edge after receiving a pass from O'Neill, only to have a LaGuerre bounce in a shot from eight yards out with 4:59 to play to tie the game. The Golden Flyers had the ball for the final minute, however, they were whistled for in the crease with two seconds remaining to set up the overtime session.

Springfield will host Stevens on Saturday, February 28 at 12:00 pm.