Springfield, Mass. – April 1, 2023 - Despite a fast start, the Springfield College men's lacrosse team was topped by visiting Babson, 15-9, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest on Stagg Field on Saturday. 

Babson moved to 6-2 and is the only unbeaten team in conference play at 3-0, while Springfield slipped to 3-7, 2-1. 

Kevin Tierney (Glastonbury, Conn.) and Mason Nocito (Mahopac, N.Y.) each totaled three goals and an assist, while Conor Tracy (Walpole, Mass.) added a hat trick of his own.  Jackson Lane (Shrewsbury, Mass.) snagged a game-high nine ground balls and Steven Betsch (Port Washington, N.Y.) went 13-for-26 on face-offs with eight ground balls.  Springfield held a 48-44 advantage in shots and a 38-30 cushion in ground balls. 

Babson's Will Parducci turned in a 19-save performance between the pipes, Will Spangenberg produced three goals and four hlpers, and both Matt Stucchi and Bennett Smith recorded four-point outings. 

Springfield netted the first two goals of the game in the opening two-plus minutes and would own a 3-1 advantage at the 11:19 mark of the first quarter when Tracy shook his defender behind the cage for an unassisted marker.

The visitors would then string together seven unanswered goals over the next 11-plus minutes spanning the first and second quarters to have their lead grow to 8-3 with 5:21 left in the half.  Tierney got Springfield back on the board as he finished a Gavin Carzello (Westfield, Mass.) feed in transition as the Pride would go into the half trailing 9-4.

Tracy pumped in a pair of goals 41 seconds apart to pull Springfield within 10-6 with 11:04 on the clock in the third, only to have Babson respond with four the game's next five goals, with Chi Chi Price scoring twice in 30 seconds as the visitors lead ballooned to 14-7 at 9:13 in the fourth. Despite late strike strikes from Tierney and Nocito in the final five minutes, Babson held on for the 15-9 win as Spangenberg found the back of the cage with 51 ticks remaining to complete the scoring. 

Springfield will host Emerson at 3:30 next Saturday.

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