Springfield, Mass. - February 23, 2022 - The Springfield College women's lacrosse team began the 2022 campaign in thrilling fashion as they clipped Roger Williams, 10-9, on Wednesday afternoon on Stagg Field.

Springfield improved to 1-0 with the victory, while the Hawks dipped to 0-1.

In a back-and-forth affair, Jade O'Connor's (Baltimore, Md.) game-winning strike with eight seconds remaining proved to be the difference for the hosts.  Taylor Pichel (Hopkinton, Mass.) paced the Pride with three goals, O'Connor tallied two goals and a helper, and Katie Martel (Hartland, Conn.) tacked on two goals.  Gianna Scialdone (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) was outstanding with seven ground balls and three caused turnovers, and Katie Campbell (Somers, N.Y.) tallied seven draw controls. Haley Moody (Wells, Maine) was strong between the pipes, notching 10 saves in the win. 

For Roger Williams, both Mandy Beck and Lilly Cunningham had three goals and an assist and Hannah Goodwin posted eight stops.  For the game, the Hawks held a slight 24-22 edge in shots and each team had 15 ground balls and 22 turnovers. 

The Hawks jumped out to a 4-1 lead after 15 minutes of play as they strong together three unanswered goals in the final 4:19 to own a three-goal cushion.  After Molly Covarrubias (Framingham, Mass.) dodged to her left and buried an unassisted goal at 7:55, the Hawks sandwiched a pair of goals along the crease with a free-position strike by Cunningham to wrap up the first-quarter scoring.  

Roger Williams extended their lead to 5-1 less than two minutes into the second quarter on a strike from Ryleigh Cavanaugh before Springfield would find its rhythm on the offensive end.  Pichel answered back with a goal just 40 seconds later to kickstart a three-goal scoring burst by the Pride to make it a 5-4 lead after half.  Unassisted markers from Martel and O'Connor inside the final five minutes completed the second-quarter scoring for the hosts.  

Holly Rivers (Danbury, Conn.) pushed in transition for a Springfield goal at 11:23 and Pichel finished a great inside look from Arielle Johnson (Woodstock, Conn.) at 5:50 to force Roger Williams into a timeout as Springfield took its first lead of the game. Cunningham sliced through the Pride's defense to even up the game at 3:20 and the Hawks nearly took the lead again in the waning seconds of the quarter, only to have Moody make a door-stop save as the horn expired to keep it a 6-6 contest entering the fourth. 

The visitors benefitted from an inside finish by Beck just over 90 seconds into the fourth to give the Hawks the 7-6 advantage, but Pichel would answer back with a free-position strike at 10:50.  The Hawks would go back on top at 8:28 on another free-position marker by Cunningham, but out of a timeout, Maddie Roy (Wilbraham, Mass.) would redirect an O'Connor pass that found the back of the cage at 6:28. 

Neither team would back down, as Beck slipped free for an unassisted goal at 5:44, but Martel would score on a free-position strike as Springfield benefitted from a man-up advantage just under two minutes later. However, with under a minute to play, Campbell came up with a critical caused turnover and the Pride managed to overcome a strong Roger Williams ride as Rivers found daylight at midfield. She then found O'Connor up ahead in transition, and the graduate student made the most of the moment in her first game at Springfield College, as she blistered home a shot on the run for the game-winning strike. 

The Pride will play again on Saturday when it hosts Western New England in a 12 pm tilt. 

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