Springfield, Mass. – April 12, 2023 - The Springfield College men's lacrosse team clashed with crosstown rival Western New England and was clipped in triple overtime, 13-12, under the lights of Golden Bear Stadium on Wednesday night. 

WNE is now 6-7 on the season with the victory, while the Pride dropped to 4-8. It marked the first time that Springfield has played a triple overtime game since the 11-10 win against Middlebury in the NCAA Division III Championship First Round on May 11, 2016. 

Playing against his former teammates after trasnferring from WNE, Conor Tracy (Walpole, Mass.) totaled five goals and two assists for Springfield and Mason Nocito (Mahopac, N.Y.) accounted for three goals and and assist.  Dean Pesce (Monroe, N.Y.) made 13 saves between the pipes as Springfield finished the game with a 47-39 advantage in shots while winning 18-of-31 faceoffs. 

Springfield stormed out to a 5-1 midway through the opening quarter following a strike by Alek Turi (Glastonbury, Conn.) at the 7:14 mark. With a 5-3 lead at the end of 15 minutes of play, the Pride would head into halftime with a 6-3 cushion as Brady Soldo (Shrewsbury, Mass.) accounted for the only goal of the second quarter.

WNE would pump in three goals in the opening four-plus minutes of the third to tie the game up, but Tracy would account for two goals and an assist in a 2:24 span to push the Pride's advantage back to 9-6 at the 8:04 mark. The Golden Bears responded with a 3-0 spurt in just over two minutes to knot the game up again, only to have Tracy get free on the crease to dunk in a great look from Nocito with 1:21 on the clock to put the Pride on top, 10-9, going into the fourth. 

The hosts would use a 3-1 run to start the fourth to take their first lead of the game at 12-11 with 4:14 to play, but Nocito would answer just under a minute a later to force the game into extra time. 

Neither team could generate offense through the first two overtimes before the Golden Bears struck with just one second left in the third extra session to complete the comeback win.  

Springfield will host Wesleyan next Wednesday at 7 pm in their non-conference finale at 7 pm. 

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