Springfield, Mass. - October 5, 2022 - The Springfield College women's soccer program earned a 1-0 shutout win against Smith in NEWMAC play on Wednesday night at Brock-Affleck Field. 

Springfield has now produced four-straight shutouts in conference play en route to a 4-0 NEWMAC record with a 6-2-1 overall mark. The Pride joins nationally-ranked MIT with a perfect record thus far in conference play.  Smith drops to 4-4-2 and 1-2-1 in league play. Springfield put 35 shots in the contest with 16 on frame. 

Taryn Ryan (Holyoke, Mass.) records the shutout victory with three saves. Noemi Howland turned away 15 shots in the setback for the Pioneers.

Springfield dominated the possession for the majority of the first half as the Pride took 16 shots with eight attempts coming on goal. In the 18th-minute, Kaitlyn Suller (Oviedo, Fla.) gave Springfield a great look as the first-year attacked the left side and got past Howland, but the shot clipped the left post and went wide. The Pride turned in another attempt with Kaleigh Dale (Mansfield, Conn.) turning off a defender to find space, but the shot sailed high with 14:15 left in the half to keep the contest in a scoreless tie. Both programs received great attempts late in the half with hopes of taking the lead. For Springfield, Meredith Healy (Niantic, Conn.) lofted a shot over Howland, but Howland stretched out to tip it away for Smith. On the other end, the Pioneers earned its only shot on goal in the final seconds with Anna Gullance finding Riley McKenna out front, but the Springfield backline closed in and forced McKenna to shoot it wide left to head to the half at 0-0. 

Springfield continued to own the ball in the second period with four shots on goal in the first three minutes of action. The Pride eventually broke through as Vasiliky Rizos (Southampton, Mass.) followed up a Jen Walker (Webster, Mass.) miss that bounced off the post and stuck in the goal to give Springfield the 1-0 lead in the 51st-minute. The Pride limited the Pioneers' possession of the ball for the entire game, not allowing Smith to find an equalizer. Smith only took two shots in the second half of play, yet in the with 55 seconds left Anna Gullace sent a shot skipping into Ryan that nearly trickled by her, but Ryan recollected the ball to finish out the shutout victory. 

The Pride take on No. 19 MIT on Saturday at 12 pm on Brock-Affleck Field. 

For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Springfield "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.