Springfield, Mass. – March 26, 2024 – The Springfield College men's lacrosse team was defeated by Middlebury, 23-15, on Tuesday evening on Stagg Field.
 
Springfield fell to 0-8 as it played its fifth opponent this season that has been ranked in the USILA Division III National Coaches Poll.  The 19^th-ranked Panthers evened their record to 4-4.

In his first career start, Bryan Stensrud (LaGrangeville, N.Y.) erupted for nine points on seven assists and two goals, while classmate Gage Sperlonga (Feeding Hills, Mass.) added two goals and three assists.  Mason Nocito (Mahopac, N.Y.) found the back of the cage four times and Jake Degnan (Mahopac, N.Y.) added three goals. Steven Betsch (Port Washington, N.Y.) went 21-for-30 on face-offs with 13 ground balls and Gavin Carzello (Westfield, Mass.) added seven ground balls. 

Middlebury owned a 51-39 edge in shots, including 36-17 in the first half, and was paced by six goals from Logan White. 

Springfield wasted no time scoring the opening goal as Kevin Tierney (Glastonbury, Conn.) got free in front of the goal just 43 seconds into the game.  However, the visitors answered with the next eight goals before Brady Soldo (Shrewsbury, Mass.) broke into the scoring column for the Pride with 1:24 left in the first.
 
After the Panthers scored the first three goals of the second, Nocito found room down the alley for an unassisted strike at 9:15 to make it 12-3.  Middlebury would close out the frame with the final six goals, including four from White, to into the halftime break with an 18-3 edge.

Middlebury would score the first goal of the second half just over a minute into the third, but the Pride would pump in eight markers in the final 10-plus minutes of the frame, including three from Degnan.   Springfield would tack on four more goals in the fourth, the last coming off a highlight-reel spinning, backhand finish from Soldo to conclude the scoring at 23-15. 

Springfield will return to NEWMAC play on Saturday when it hosts MIT at 1 pm.

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