Wellesley, Mass. - October 12, 2024 - The Springfield College field hockey team could not complete a fourth-quarter comeback as it was edged by Wellesley, 2-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday afternoon.

The loss drops Springfield to 4-9 on the year, including 1-4 in conference play, while Wellesley improved to 9-4, 4-1.  The Blue ended the afternoon with a 15-8 edge in shots and each team took six penalty corners. Kaitlyn Parent (Glastonbury, Conn.) totaled six saves in the setback for Springfield. 

Wellesley wasted no time finding the back of the cage just over five minutes into the contest as Alex Butulis collected a centering pass in front of the cage and fired a bouncing ball into the left side of the cage.   Following a scoreless second quarter, the hosts converted only 40 seconds into the half when River Schiff was able to clean up a scramble in front of the cage to poke in the eventual game winner.

Springfield cut Wellesley's lead in half in the 54th minute on a penalty corner as Nicolette Morlock (Rexford, N.Y.) delivered the initial feed to Kristyn Vasselin (Hudson, Mass.), who was able to settle the ball and deliver a great look to Molly Collins (Franklin, Mass.). Collins then unleashed her bid into the back of the cage to make it a 2-1 contest.  However, Springfield was unable to get off another shot in the final six-plus minutes as Wellesley held on the conference win. 

Springfield will wrap up non-conference play on Thursday when it hosts Dean at 6 pm.
 
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