Springfield, Mass. – May 1, 2024 – The Springfield College women's lacrosse team was upended by No. 20 MIT, 15-10, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Semifinals on Wednesday evening at Stagg Field.

MIT, which was ranked 20^th in this week's ILWomen/IWLCA Division III Poll, improved to 16-3 and will travel to take on Babson on Saturday with the conference title on the line.  Springfield, which was also receiving votes in the national poll, fell to 15-4 on the year.

Izzy Lalancette (Feeding Hills, Mass.) totaled a team-best four goals, while Lily Johnson (Oceanside, N.Y.) added a pair of markers. Hannah Hibbert (Center Harbor, N.H.) notched four draw controls and Haley Moody (Wells, Maine) tallied nine saves in goal.

MIT's Ellie Rabenold pumped in four goals and Meredith Arterburn and Ashley Thomas each produced three goals and an assist.  Pauline Vien played the final 30 minutes in cage and was impressive, totaling seven stops while allowing just three goals.  The Engineers owned a 35-28 edge in shots for the game and a 21-13 advantage in ground balls. 

Springfield got off to a tremendous start, netting the first four goals of the game as Lily Vey's (Foxboro, Mass.) unassisted strike with 1:46 left in the quarter put the hosts in control at 4-0.  Rabenold would deliver with just nine seconds left to make it a 4-1 game after 15 minutes of play.  She would later produce her second of the game when she finished with a defender draped all over her with 4:35 remaining in the half to pull the visitors within 5-4.  Lalancette would respond with a pair of power play goals just over two minutes apart to push the lead back to 7-4, only to have Gwen Flusche beat the buzzer for a strike following a failed Springfield clear as MIT trimmed it to a 7-5 halftime cushion. 

Johnson would dodge to her right and bury a shot on the run just over a minute into the third quarter to help Springfield regain a three-goal lead at 8-5.  However, MIT would manufacture a 9-0 run capped off by a free-position goal by Rabenold with 6:43 remaining in regulation to have their lead grow to 14-8.  Lalancette and Samantha Andresen (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) would score in the final 5:27 for the Pride but the visitors were able to hang on for the semifinal victory. 

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