Springfield, Mass. - April 18, 2015 - Benefitting from four-point performances by senior attack Michelle Dorsey (Wilbraham, Mass.) and junior midfielder Kristina Krull (Leicester, Mass.), the Springfield College women's lacrosse team clinched the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular-season title, as well as the No. 1 overall seed in the conference tournament with a 14-7 victory over Babson on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field.

With the win, the Pride, ranked No. 19 in the latest Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) National Rankings, improve to 13-2 overall and 7-0 in conference play, while the Beavers fall to 5-9 overall, and 4-3 in the NEWMAC. 

This marks the fifth time in program history that the Pride has clinched the NEWMAC regular-season title, with the last time being in 2011. 

With three goals from Dorsey, the senior moved into fourth all-time on the career goals list, as she now has 138, passing Allie Bazzano '10, who finished her career with 136 goals. Krull notched a career-high four goals on the afternoon as well, and freshman Shelby Corsano (Bourne, Mass.) also registered a career-high three points including two goals and one assists, while Heather Raniolo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) registered a game-high five draw controls. Junior goalkeeper Gabriella Anderson (Mahopac, N.Y.) made nine stops in the victory.

For Babson, Rachel Secrist (Westford, Mass.) led the way with three goals, while McKenzie Tucci (Winchester, Mass.) added a pair of her own. In net, Stevie Burger (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) posted seven saves on the afternoon.

Heather Raniolo opened up the games scoring with a free-position strike just 7:31 into the opening half. After Raniolo gained possession of the next faceoff, she fired a pass to Bianca Raniolo (Yorktown, N.Y.), who found a streaking Dorsey, who then blew by her defender and found the back of the net to extend the Pride's lead to two just 13 seconds later. 

Krull finished off a free-position chance to push the Pride's lead to three with 14:55 remaining in the first half, before she notched her second goal of the game just 1:53 later after dodging through the Babson defense and firing a shot past Burger to make it 4-0, Springfield. Corsano added to Springfield's lead when she dodged through the Babson defense and found twine to make it 5-0, Pride, with 12:28 left in the opening stanza.

Katie McKenna (Sandwich, Mass.) got the Beavers on the board with 8:53 remaining in the first, when she took a pass from Kayla Farina (Newton, Mass.) and dodged past a couple Springfield defenders and netting a shot past Anderson to cut Babson's deficit to four. 

Kerstin Lindrooth (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) helped the Pride regain its five-goal margin when she took a top-down feed from Dorsey and quickly fired a shot into the bottom right corner of the net to make it 6-1, Springfield, with 6:56 to go until half. 

Babson made it a four-goal game with 2:53 left in the first when Secrist converted a free-position opportunity, before Corsano added her second of the game after she took a pass from Bianca Raniolo and fired past Burger to make it 7-2, Springfield, with 1:25 left in the first half. 

Just 55 seconds into the second half, Secrist took the ball the length of the field and blew by the Springfield defense to net her second goal of the game, as Babson cut its deficit to four. With 28:12 left in the contest, Corsano found a cutting Heather Raniolo who then found the back of the net to give Springfield back its five-goal lead.

At the 22:09 mark, Dorsey caused a turnover on the Babson clear, only to pick up the loose ball and out-run the Babson defense to net her second goal of the game and give Springfield a 9-3 lead. 

Krull notched her third marker of the contest with 20:35 left in the contest when she converted a free-position chance to make it 10-3, Springfield.

With 18:18 to go, Farina netted a free-position chance of her own to keep Babson within six, before Dorsey tacked on her third goal of the contest with 17:21 left after the senior grabbed a loose ground ball and fired a shot under the crossbar to make it 11-4, Pride.

With 15:21 left, Tucci took a pass from Kate Montague (Manchester, Vt.) and found the back of the net to make it 11-5, Springfield, before Krull registered her fourth goal of the contest with 11:19 to go to make it 12-5, Pride.

Secrist tallied her third goal of the game when she took a pass from Tucci and made a move towards the center of the field, firing a shot past Anderson to cut Babson's deficit in half with 6:54 remaining. 

Just 49 seconds later, Olivia Cabral (Sayville, N.Y.) fired a pass into the crease, finding the stick of Lindrooth, who fired a shot into the left side of the net to make it 13-6, Springfield, before Emily Rodgers (Durham, N.H.) scored to make it 14-6, Springfield.

Tucci would score with nine seconds left in the game to make it 14-7, but Springfield would come away with the victory.

Up next, the Pride will close out its regular season with a Wednesday night contest against Emerson, to begin at 7 p.m.