SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – A three-goal second half propelled the Springfield College women's soccer team past Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday evening. The victory moves the Pride to 9-3-2 with a 6-1-1 mark in conference play. The homestanding Lyons are now 6-10-0 and 2-6-0 in the NEWMAC.
Holding a 1-0 advantage after the opening half, Springfield saw its advantage disappear as MHC senior Cassidy Robinson (Lebanon, N.H./Lebanon) fired in her 10th tally of the season in the 51st minute. Off a cross from junior Ashleigh Hartsock (Stevensville, Md./Kent Island), the ball came into the middle to the feet of senior Andrea Portillo (San Jose, Calif./Downtown College Prep.), who sent a quick back pass to Robinson for the tally into the right corner.
The Pride wasted little time in regaining the lead as junior forward Nicole Fowler (Maynard, Mass./Hudson) split the MHC defense, dribbling the ball forward as she sent it sailing past Lyons keeper Mackenzie Randall (Harwinton, Conn./Forman) in the 53rd minute.
Springfield continued to pepper the Mount Holyoke net, forcing Randall to make a number of outstanding stops. Among the highlights included a shot by Fowler, which careened off the fingertips of Randall and over the crossbar.
Despite a number of outstanding shots, the Lyons goalie was unable to hold off the Pride offense as junior Jessica Miller (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug), who assisted on the first goal of the game, netted one of her own in the 67th minute. First year Kimberly Quiles (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) earned the assist, sending a perfect cross into the middle, which was immediately headed in by Miller into the left corner.
Quiles, who also scored the first goal of the game for the Pride, tallied the final marker as well in the 73rd minute. After a defender blocked her initial shot, Quiles shifted right and tracked down the ball, sending a long shot past Randall on the right side as the keeper came out to play the ball.
Springfield, which hadn't allowed a goal against since a 1-1 tie versus Babson on Oct. 4, held a 23-3 advantage in shots and an 8-0 edge in corner kicks. Senior goalkeeper Lucy Gillett (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Hofstra) picked up her ninth win of the season with one stop. She is now 9-3-2 overall.
For Mount Holyoke, Randall stopped 11 shots in the loss to move to 1-7-0 on the season. It marked her third straight appearance with 10 or more saves and her fourth game overall with 10+ stops this year.
The game also marked the final regular season home contest for MHC's seven seniors. Honored in a pre-game ceremony were Robinson, Portillo, Randall, captain Hannah Yee (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional), Tori Shaffrey (Charlottesville, Va./Charlottesville), Emily Quinlan (Rindge, N.H./Cushing Academy) and Kara Singleton (Parsonsfield, Maine/Sacopee Valley).
Mount Holyoke returns to action next Tuesday in a 3:30pm contest at Smith. Springfield is back in action on Saturday, hosting WPI at 1pm.
Photo courtesy of Sana Barclay '15.
