Babson Park, Mass. - May 7, 2014 - The Springfield College women's lacrosse team advanced to play in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship game for the seventh time in the last eight years with a 9-4 win over Wheaton College at MacDowell Field on the campus of Babson College on Saturday afternoon.

The Pride, which was the No. 3 seed in the NEWMAC Tournament, improves to 13-5 on the year, and will take on the top-seeded Babson Beavers on Sunday at 1 p.m. for the right's to advance to the NCAA Championship Tournament. Wheaton, which was the No. 2 seed in the tournament, closes its season with an overall record of 9-9.

The Pride was led by five points from senior midfielder Heather Raniolo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), including two goals and three assists, while sophomore attack Shelby Corsano (Bourne, Mass.) notched three goals in the win. Additionally, senior MK Jaeger (Plymouth, Mass.) notched a career-best two goals, while freshmen Andie Stone (Burlington, Conn.) and Amanda Nusbaum (Conway, N.H.) each scooped up a team-best four ground balls. In net, junior goalkeeper Gabby Anderson (Mahopac, N.Y.) posted three saves in the win.

Wheaton was led by three first-half goals from Katie Peters (Medway, Mass.), while in net, Molly Witten (Bethesda, Md.) posted six saves in the setback.

Springfield outshot the Lyons 24-12 in the win, and claimed nine draw controls to Wheaton's six. The Pride also won the ground ball battle, holding a 21-20 advantage over the Lyons over 60 minutes of play.

Wheaton opened the game's scoring just 5:16 into the contest when Giovanna Bishop (Portland, Ore.) found a cutting Katie Peters (Medway, Mass.), who tucked a shot past Anderson, before Heather Raniolo found a cutting Corsano in the crease for an easy catch-and-finish to even the score at one just 1:31 later. After another strike from Peters, the Pride quickly countered with an unassisted strike from Kristen Steidler (Somers, Conn.) to keep the score even at two apiece with 19:20 left in the first.

From there, the Pride went on a three-goal run to take a 5-2 lead, as Bianca Raniolo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) found Heather Raniolo for a pair of goals, before Heather Raniolo found an open Jaeger on the back door for another easy finish with 30 seconds in the stanza to give the Pride a three-goal lead.

Wheaton would score with nine seconds remaining in the half on Peters' third of the game to make it 5-3, Springfield, at the break.

The Pride pushed its lead to four in the first 7:12 of the second half with two quick goals from Corsano to complete the hat trick, before Wheaton cut its deficit to three with a goal in transition from Madison Cohen (East Lyme, Conn.).

With 13:49 remaining, Jaeger took the ball at midfield and while streaking towards the cage, tucked a shot past Witten to make it 8-4, Pride, before Kristina Krull (Leicester, Mass.) sealed the win when she took a pass from Heather Raniolo and found the back of the net to make it 9-4, Pride.