Cambridge, Mass. - May 7, 2022 - The Springfield College men's lacrosse team was defeated by No. 14 MIT, 23-11, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship on Saturday afternoon. 

The Pride's season comes to a close with an 8-9 record.  Chris Santa Barbara (Hillsborough, N.J.) and Alek Turi (Glastonbury, Conn.) each scored three times, while Zac Schuette (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) added three assists.  For Schuette, he concluded the year with 91 points, tying the second-most point in single-season program history. Dean Pesce (Monroe, N.Y.) and Jack Hamilton (Falmouth, Mass.) split time in goal, with Hamilton making eight saves in the final two quarters. 

For the game MIT, held a 55-35 edge in shots and won 25-of-38 face-offs, including 19-for-24 in the opening 30 minutes of play. Ryan Gebhardt earned Most Outstanding Player honors as he tallied nine goals and three assists, Lukas Drexler-Bruce produed 17 saves, including 15 in the second half, and Matthew Sardis won 20-of-25 face-offs to go along with 14 ground balls. 

The Pride got off to a fast start, as Santa Barbara blistered in an unassisted strike at 13:05 and later finished a feed from Schuette at 11:18 to give the visitors an early 2-0 edge.  MIT responded with six-straight goals in a seven-plus minute span before Turi found the back of the cage at 3:14.  MIT would take a 7-3 lead into the second quarter, only to have Springfield get goals from Mason Nocito (Mahopac, N.Y.) and Turi inside the first two minutes of the second to make it a 7-5 ballgame.

However, MIT would respond with nine goals to close out the quarter, including three in a 24 second span in the final 39 seconds of the frame to have its lead balloon to 16-6 at the halftime break.  

The Engineers would score the lone goal of the third and lead would grow to as much as 23-8 before goals from Joe Maimone (Allendale, N.J.), Patrick Watson (Franklin, Mass.), and Connor Roberts (Somers, Conn.) concluded the scoring for Springfield.