Norton, Mass. – October 17, 2023 – Two goals from first-year Hailey Gaydos (Newington, Conn.) less than three minutes apart in the fourth quarter lifted the Springfield College field hockey team to a crucial 3-1 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win at Wheaton College tonight on Nordin Field.

Springfield is now 6-9 overall on the season and 2-5 in NEWMAC play, while Wheaton fell to 4-12 (1-6).

Tied at 1-1 heading into the final 15 minutes of play, Gaydos put the Pride on her back as she scored her 12th goal of the year off a feed by graduate student Kaitlin Bardellini (Northfield, N.H.) with 8:44 to play in regulation before she potted the all-important insurance goal just 2:52 later.

Gaydos now leads all first-year's in the NEWMAC and also leads Springfield with 13 goals on the season.

After a scoreless opening half, Wheaton tallied the game's first goal 2:56 into the third quarter when Lydia Gaudreau found Riley Levrault. Less than five minutes later, however, Bardellini notched her 11th goal of the year as she redirected a long pass from outside the arc from senior Audrey Dolan (Westminster, Mass.). The score remained knotted at 1-1 until Gaydos took control of the game in the fourth as the Pride came away with the 3-1 road win.

Springfield held a 15-4 edge in shots and a 4-2 differential in penalty corners. Senior Remy Niland (Marshfield, Mass.) made two save in net for the Pride as she improved to 3-4 on the season.

Springfield will travel to Smith College on Saturday, October 21 at 1:00 pm for its penultimate Saturday game of the regular season.