Springfield, Mass. - October 22, 2022 - The Springfield College field hockey team posted its fourth conference shutout victory of the season as it bested Smith, 1-0, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) clash on Saturday afternoon.

The win lifted the Pride to 7-8, 4-3 in conference play, while the Pioneers slipped to 4-3 against conference opponents and evened its overall record to 8-8. Each team took seven shots in the game, while Smith owned a 5-4 edge in penalty corners.  

For Springfield, it marks the first time that it has at least five shutouts in a season since 2016, while the Pride's four NEWMAC shutout wins is the most since the 2008 equaled that number.

The hosts were awarded a pair of corners inside the opening two minutes of the game and made the second one count as Molly Collins (Franklin, Mass.) hammered a shot towards the cage that Grace Majka (Simsbury, Conn.) was able to redirect on the doorstep to give the Pride a 1-0 cushion at the 1:44 mark. 

Smith applied plenty of pressure in the second half, but the Pride was able to keep the Pioneers off the scoreboard as they weathered a player-down situation for five minutes following a yellow card midway through the third.  Springfield nearly doubled its lead in the 42nd minute when Lily Depew (Acton, Mass.) unleashed a shot on the run, only to have Rory Harper make an incredible kick save to keep it a one-goal game. 

Springfield will host Gordon on Tuesday at 4 pm in its regular-season home finale.

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