Springfield, Mass. - October 14, 2017 - The Springfield College men's soccer team picked up its 12th-straight victory to start the 2017 season, as the Pride defeated Emerson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday afternoon at Brock-Affleck Field.

Springfield College, which was slotted at No. 22 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division III National Rankings, improves to 12-0-0 overall and 5-0-0 in NEWMAC play, while the Lions are now 4-8-1 on the year and 0-5-0 against conference opponents. Springfield College held a dominant 42-7 shot advantage over 90 minutes of play, while it was also awarded 10 corner kicks to the Lions' one.

In net for the Pride, Stewart Frank (Pittsford, N.Y.) and Dylan Ruzbasan (Palatine, Ill.) combined to make five stops en route to Springfield College's fifth-straight shutout victory, while their counterpart, Lucas Fischer (Atlanta, Ga.) made 14 saves in the setback.

Springfield College dominated possession in the first 45 minutes, as it held a 14-5 shot advantage over the Lions in the first half. The Pride's best chance of the opening stanza came with 21:37 to play when Wayne Belcher (Norton, Mass.) carried the ball down the right sideline before sending a ball into the box, which was deflected by Nick Fontana (Marshfield, Mass.) to an open Curtis Bolduc (South Windsor, Conn.) on the back post, but the senior's bid went just wide, keeping the game scoreless.

The Pride closed the half applying a lot of pressure on the Emerson net, as it totaled seven shots in the final 12:54 of the period.

Springfield College opened the flood gates in the second half as Fontana struck twice in a span of 4:20, both set up on great plays from Dexter Tenn (South Windsor, Conn.). Just 2:37 into the second stanza, Tenn made a great run down the right side of the field, before centering a pass to Cam Powell (Housatonic, Mass.), who back heeled a pass to Fontana on the back post for an easy finish to make it 1-0 Pride. At the 38:03 mark, Tenn was at it again as he beat his defender top side before finding an open Fontana on the back post, who settled the ball and blasted a shot past Fischer to make it 2-0, Springfield College.

With 6:34 to play in the game, Ruzbasan drove a ball deep from Springfield College's territory, before Christian Schneider (Douglas, Mass.) made a great one-touch pass to a breaking Tim Wood (Derry, N.H.), who carried the ball down the left side and fired one into the back of the cage to make it 3-0, Pride. Just 1:16 later, Schneider got one for himself when Powell sent him in behind the Emerson back line before the junior smoothly tucked a shot past Fischer to make it 4-0, Springfield College.

Senior defender Harry Davis (Merrick, N.Y.) closed out the game's scoring as Danny Murphy (Old Saybrook, Conn.) sent in a cross before Davis dove and headed the ball out of mid air and into the back of the net with 2:30 to play, sealing the 5-0 win for Springfield College. 

Up next, Springfield College will take on cross-town rival Western New England on Sunday, October 15 at Lusitano Stadium in Ludlow, Mass. at 7:30 p.m.