Cambridge, Mass. – March 25, 2023 - In a rematch of last year's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship, the Springfield College men's lacrosse team earned a 16-14 victory over MIT on Saturday. 

Springfield is now 3-5, 2-0 in conference play, while MIT had its six-game winning streak snapped and fell to 6-2, 1-1. 

The Pride rattled off five unanswered goals spanning the last six minutes of the third quarter and the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to build a lead it would not relinquish as it held on to the Engineers.  Riley Burgmyer (Somers, Conn.) and Conor Tracy (Walpole, Mass.) both recorded five points with Burgmyer posting three goals and two assists while Tracy generated five goals to lead the way for the Pride, while Nick Stiles (New Canaan, Conn.) paced the Engineers with four goals and four assists. 

Springfield opened the game with five straight goals, capped by back-to-back strikes from Kevin Tierney (Glastonbury, Conn.) 25 seconds apart midway through the quarter. Graduate student Ryan Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) put MIT on the board with a man-up goal at the 4:14 mark, but Tracy connected on a feed from Burgmyer almost three minutes later to make the score 6-1. The Engineers responded with Stiles scoring on a pass from first year Bryce Metalios (Riverside, Conn.) with just under a minute left.

MIT carried the momentum into the second stanza as it outscored the Pride, 8-1, and established a 10-7 lead at halftime. Stiles was a factor in four of the goals as his back-to-back blasts put the Engineers in front, 8-7, with 4:49 on the clock. Senior Tory Lentine (Flemington, N.J.) registered a man-up goal and two assists while first year Zach Bleil (New Canaan, Conn.) scored twice, including a man-up marker, as Metalios provided the first and last goals of the frame.

Springfield ended its scoring drought moments after the opening faceoff in the third quarter when Tierney redirected a feed from Vincent Scialdone (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and the Pride would cut its deficit in half (10-9) courtesy of a solo effort by Mason Nocito (Mahopac, N.Y.) with 13:43 on the clock. MIT increased its cushion when Stiles set up sophomore Patrick Timons (Woodside, Calif.) for his first goal of the season, however, Burgmyer replied with one of his own at the 9:48 mark. Sophomore Matthew Sardis (Bernardsville, N.J.) won the ensuing faceoff and immediately found Stiles whose goal moved the score to 12-10. A defensive battle ensued until Tierney scored with 5:55 remaining and then Tracy and Matthew Webb (Northport, N.Y.) both found the back of the net, putting Springfield ahead for good.

The visitors' lead grew to 15-12 after 4:18 elapsed in the fourth quarter courtesy of goals by Nocito and Tracy. The score remained unchanged until Metalios connected on a pass from Stiles with 3:03 left to play. Seven seconds later, Sardis won the faceoff and earned an assist on a blast by Metalios.

After the teams traded possessions,Connor Roberts forced a turnover for the Pride and it eventually led to a Springfield timeout with 34 seconds to go. Immediately after action resumed, Tracy launched a shot from almost 20 yards away into an open net to secure the win.  Defensively, Springfield limited Gebhardt to just one goal on the day, his lowest output of the season, as he would set the NCAA Division III record for career points with 452. 

Tierney registered four goals as Gavin Carzello (Westfield, Mass.) collected seven groundballs and three caused turnovers. Roberts notched four groundballs and three caused turnovers while Jackson Lane h(Shrewsbury, Mass.) had five groundballs. Steven Betsch (Port Washington, N.Y.) went 11-of-25 on the faceoff "x" and contributed five groundballs, and in net, Jack Hamilton (Falmout, Mass.) made seven saves in the first half while Dean Pesce (Monroe, N.Y.) closed out the game with four saves.

Springfield will wrap up its seven-game roadswing as it heads to nationally-ranked Middlebury on Tuesday for a 4 pm contest. 

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