SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Eight unanswered goals in the second half, including three off the stick of senior attack Shelby Corsano, propelled Springfield College to a 14-5 victory at Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) lacrosse action on Wednesday evening. The victory moves the Pride to 10-5 overall with a near-perfect 5-1 mark in conference play. The Lyons slip to 3-10 and 1-4 in the NEWMAC.
Corsano (Bourne, Mass./Bourne) led all game scorers with four goals. She also added two ground balls, a game-high five draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers. First year attack Kate Sarnacki (Granby, Mass./Granby) added three goals and a game-best three helpers with three ground balls, while senior midfielder Ann Mahoney (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) also added a game-high three assists with two goals. The Pride posted 10 caused turnovers as a team, which included two from Corsano and two from senior midfielder Kristen Steidler (Somers, Conn./Somers). Junior defender Andi Stone (Burlington, Conn./Lewis Mills) recorded a team-best four ground balls while also posting four draw controls. In goal, sophomore Brenna Keefe (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) recorded five saves to move to 10-5 overall.
For the Lyons, senior captain Leila Kouakou (Leeds, Mass./Northampton) and classmate Kaitlin Braz (Tolland, Conn./East Catholic) both recorded two goals. Braz added a game-best five ground balls, a team-high four draw controls and two caused turnovers. Sophomore midfielder Julianna Rankin (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) recorded three ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover, while sophomore defender Kathryn Violette (Yokosuka City, Japan/Yokohama International) led all players with four caused turnovers. In goal, MHC saw sophomore keeper Mia Wysocki (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) make nine stops.
Springfield held a close 6-4 advantage after the opening half, but broke the game wide open with five unanswered through the opening 15 minutes of the half. Corsano, who scored with 1:50 left in the first half, carried the mometum into the second stanza with two straight goals less than a minute apart at the 20:13 mark. Sarnacki quickly added to it with 17:52 to play with back-to-back scores of her own for a 10-4 advantage. Mahoney, who had posted a nice assist on the second of Sarnacki's two straight, fired a shot in on the free position and was followed at the 13:13 mark of the contest as junior midfielder Amanda Nusbaum (Conway, N.H./Kennett) scored the second of her two goals on the evening for a 12-4 lead.
Mount Holyoke powered back as Smith sent a bullet shot into the middle from the right side to Kouakou, who slammed it home into the right side, but late in the game saw the Pride answer again as Sarnacki delivered a striking pass to Corsano for her fourth tally of the game. With 2:31 remaining, Springfield delivered the final goal of the game as senior defender Julia Bireley (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) notched her first of the evening off a helper from Mahoney.
The Pride were near perfect on the clear for the contest, going 18-of-20, while the Lyons were also impressive with a 14-of-20 clear mark. Springfield owned a 25-11 edge in shots, along with a 20-16 clip in ground balls and a 14-8 advantage on the draw control.
Mount Holyoke closes out its regular season home schedule on Saturday, hosting Coast Guard at 12pm as the Lyons celebrate Senior Day. Springfield also wraps-up its home slate Saturday, welcoming Wellesley at 1pm.
