Springfield, Mass. - April 17, 2021 - The Springfield College men's lacrosse team returned to play after a three-week hiatus and was clipped by Clark, 14-12, in a New England Men's and Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field.

After opening the season on March 27 to Coast Guard, Springfield dipped to 0-2 on the year, while Clark improved to 1-0.

Springfield held a 40-38 edge in shots for the game, but Clark's Ryan Mickelson made 18 saves between the pipes.  Clark's offense was fueled by five goals from Chris Rasco, while Jacob Brandes delivered three goals and three helpers.  The visitors ended the game going 23-for-30 from the face-off "X", with Bobby Philbon delivering a 13-for-17 performance with nine ground balls.

Kevin Tierney (Glastonbury, Conn.) netted a game-high six goals for Springfield and Patrick Watson (Frankin, Mass.) and Joe Hawley (Poulsbo, Wash.) each added three points out of the midfield. Jack Hamilton (Falmouth, Mass.) made his first career appearance in goal and made eight stops in the loss.   

It was an electric opening 15 minutes of play as the teams combined for nine goals as the Cougars jumped out to a 4-2 lead at the 5:59 mark on a strike from Benjamin Hollerbach.  The Pride responded with three-straight goals of their own over the next 3:10, as unassisted markers from Mason Nocito (Mahopac, N.Y.) and Zac Schuette (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) sandwiched Tierney's second goal of the quarter to give the hosts a 5-4 lead heading into the second. 

Clark answered back with the first three goals of the second quarter, capped off by a man-up goal from Quincy Milton III at the 4:39 mark to make it a 7-5 contest.  The teams would combine for five goals in the final 3:55 of the frame, including a pair of Tierney, as the Cougars owned a 9-8 edge at the halftime break.

The offense would slow down in the second half, as after Brandes roped a pair of assists to Noah Skole and Rasco to start the third, Springfield would net three unanswered goals of a 10-plus minute span between the third and fourth quarters.  Hawley connected from deep on a great feed by Schuette from behind the cage with 9:25 left in regulation to knot things up at 11-all.

However, Philbon won the ensuing draw and pumped home an unassisted strike, only to have Tierney sting his sixth goal of the game less than a minute later.  Rasco would then net the eventual game-winner with 7:32 and add an insurance goal with his fifth of the game at the 3:15 mark to give the Cougars the conference win.  

Springfield is schedule to travel next Sunday to take on Babson in a contest slated to begin at 4:30 pm.

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