Springfield, Mass. - April 23, 2016 - Coming out of the halftime break facing a one-goal, 7-6 deficit, the Springfield COllege men's lacrosse team scored 12 second-half goals, including holding an 8-1 edge in the third quarter to lift the Pride to an 18-10 victory over Wheaton College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field.

With the win, the Pride balance their overall record to 7-7, and remain unbeaten in conference play with a mark of 5-0. However, with the loss, Wheaton falls to 6-7 overall and 2-3 in league play.

Springfield dominated every statistical category in the contest, as it posted 57 shots to Wheaton's 34, picked up 37 ground balls to the Lyons' 21 and was 13-for-16 clearing the ball in the win.

The Pride was led by a five-point day's from sophomore Tom Hurley (Goffstown, N.H.) and senior attackman Dylan Sheehan (Massapequa, N.Y.), as Hurley posted four goals and one assist, while Sheehan notched two goals and added three helpers. Junior midfielder Matt Lacroix (Westfield, Mass.) dominated the face-off "x", going 18-for-22 with 12 ground balls on the day. In net, Jake Reynolds (Scituate, Mass.) put forth another impressive performance between the pipes, making 10 stops on the day.

For Wheaton, four players recorded a pair of goals, while Matt Morgan (York, Maine) added an assist to put together a three-point performance for the Lyons. In net, Ryan Clair (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) made 11 stops in the setback.

Wheaton jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a goal from Ryan Gjerset (Austin, Texas), but was quickly answered by a strike from Brendan Dooley (Setauket, N.Y.) just 32 seconds later to even the game at one apiece. Following a goal from Morgan, Kevin Dean (Westhampton, Mass.) took a feed from Tim Cozens (Ridgefield, Conn.) and found the back of the net to make it 2-2 with 8:10 to play in the first.

From there, Wheaton scored twice to end the frame, before the Pride cut its deficit to one with a strike from Cozens to make it 4-3, Wheaton, 49 seconds into the second quarter. Wheaton netted back-to-back goals just 1:54 apart to push its lead to three, but a string of goals from Tony Laguerre (Shrub Oaks, N.Y.), Duncan Preston (South Portland, Maine) and Hurley knotted the game at six with 3:39 left in the half.

With time winding down in the half, Clair heaved a ball into the Springfield box from the opposite end of the field, which was caught by Scott Whear (Duxbury, Mass.), who found the back of the net to send the Lyons into the break with a one-goal lead.

Springfield opened the second half with a three-goal run, benefitting from strikes off the stick of Hurley, Jake Versprille (Franklin, Mass.) and Dean to go up 9-7, but Wheaton would end the run with a goal to make it 9-8, Springfield, with 10:08 left in the third.

From there, Springfield rattled off six-straight goals, including tow from Hurley, and one from Cozens, Dooley, Sheehan and Lacroix to take a commanding 14-8 lead heading into the final stanza.

After Hurley notched his fourth of the day to make it 15-8, Pride, Wheaton struck, but three more goals from the Pride iced the victory to help Springfield stay unbeaten in conference play.

Next up, the Pride will play host to Clark on Wednesday, April 27 at 7 p.m. on Stagg Field.