Springfield, Mass. – March 21, 2026 – The Springfield College women's lacrosse team was defeated by 17th-ranked MIT, 13-11, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon from Stagg Field.

MIT improved to 5-2 overall and to 2-0 in NEWMAC play, while Springfield dropped to 3-4, 1-1.

Springfield was led by Izzy Lalancette (Feeding Hills, Mass.), who recorded four goals and one assist for five points. Both Claire Ognibene (New Canaan, Conn.) and Payton Imhof (Bay Shore, N.Y.) both added two goals apiece for the Pride. Sarah Newton (Colchester, Conn.) tallied seven draw controls, while Lily Johnson (Oceanside, N.Y.) posted a pair of caused turnovers. In net, Cedar Conrad (Amherst, Mass.) came off the bench to make a trio of saves late in the game.

Annica Lam powered MIT with five goals, while Ashley Thomas also produced five points with a goal and four assists. Pauline Vien made 14 saves for the visiting Engineers.

Lalancette opened the scoring just over a minute into the game before MIT struck for back-to-back goals two minutes apart for an early edge. Lalancette then finished a pass from Johnson to tie the score at two. Newton and Johnson then converted free position attempts to give Springfield a 4-3 lead through one.

MIT's offense clicked in the second outscoring Springfield by a 6-2 margin as the Engineers took a 9-6 lead into the break. Lam began and ended the scoring for MIT, while Nina Petulla converted twice in 30 seconds to push the Engineers ahead. Lam scored on the man-advantage to open the third, but four straight goals by Springfield – including twice on the same man-advantage play by Lalancette and Kristyn Vasselin (Hudson, Mass.) ultimately tied the score at ten heading to the fourth.

Conrad came into the game early in the third with MIT ahead 10-7 and stood her ground making three saves between the pipes to keep Springfield in the game. Lam and Alexis Reinard tallied goals for MIT early in the fourth before Ognibene converted a pass from Lalancette to make it a one goal game with seven minutes left in regulation.

Springfield won the draw control and Hailey Gaydos (Newington, Conn.) took the ball down the field in transition off a caused turnover. Gaydos went 1-on-1 with Vien, but the MIT keeper stopped the shot leaving Springfield down one. Off a successful clear by MIT, Lam potted her fifth of the game ultimately putting the contest out of reach of Springfield. The Pride had a couple of looks down the stretch, but a couple of costly turnovers and a couple of shots save by Vien secured the 13-11 final in favor of MIT.

Springfield held the edge in shots (35-26), ground balls (16-9) and draw controls (14-12), but Vien kept MIT in the game making 14 stops on the day.

Springfield will head to Amherst on Wednesday for a non-conference contest at 6:00 pm.

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