Springfield, Mass. – April 10, 2025 – The Springfield College women's lacrosse team outscored Westfield State University, 9-1, over the final 15 minutes of play and saw Claire Ognibene (New Canaan, Conn.) score four times down the stretch as the Pride earned an 18-11 come from behind win over the Owls on Thursday evening on Stagg Field.

Springfield, which entered the game 22nd in the initial NCAA Power Index rankings, won its eighth straight contest and improved to 11-1 overall, while Westfield State fell to 4-9. Springfield has now reached 11 wins in all three seasons under the direction of head coach Jenn Thomas.

Ognibene registered a career-best four goals to lead Springfield's come from behind effort, while Lauren Ronai (Orange, Conn.) notched a career-high four goals and one assist for five points for the Pride. Samantha Andresen (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) recorded her sixth hat trick of the season to go along with three groundballs, five draw controls and one caused turnover, while Maddie Roy (Wilbraham, Mass.)added two goals, two ground balls and seven draw controls. In net, Kate Laico (East Meadow, N.Y.) made six saves and scooped up a team-best four ground balls pushing her record to 11-1 between the pipes for Springfield.

As a team, Springfield held advantages in shots (39-24), ground balls (17-10) and went 13-for-15 on the clear. Westfield buried five of its seven free position shots on the night and went 12-for-17 in transition.

A three goal surge by Westfield State midway through the third quarter, which was highlighted by a goal on the man-advantage by Mercedes Rozzi gave the visitors a 10-8 lead with 4:07 to play in the period. However, with under a minute until the buzzer sounded, Ronai made it a one goal game and ignited a streak of eight straight goals for Springfield in the come from behind win.

Ognibene opened the fourth with back-to-back unassisted strikes to push Springfield in front for good before Andresen and Lily Vey converted on unassisted goals of their own to make it a 14-10 game with 9:24 remaining in the contest.

Andresen went on to finish a pass from Lily Johnson (Oceanside, N.Y.) before Ognibene struck for back-to-back goals to really put the game out of reach with 4:38 left and the score at 16-10 in favor of the Pride. Roy and Vey added some insurance down the stretch as Springfield went on to defeat Westfield by an 18-11 final.

Springfield will begin a three game road stretch that features a trio of NEWMAC opponents beginning at Wellesley College on Saturday at 1:00 pm. 

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