Wellesley Lacrosse Falls 15-8 To Springfield In NEWMAC Opener

WELLESLEY, Mass.-- Wellesley College lacrosse dropped a 15-8 New England Men's and Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) setback to Springfield College on Wednesday afternoon at the Wellesley Fields Complex. The visiting Pride bested the hosts, improving to 4-4 overall and 1-0 in NEWMAC play while the Blue moved to 3-3 on the year and 0-1 in conference action.

Springfield junior Kayla Schroeher (Riverhead, N.Y.) led all scorers notching seven goals, while Shelby Corsano (Bourne, Mass.) found the back of the net three times, served up one assist, scooped four ground balls and caused one turnover. Taylor Kane (Woburn, Mass.), Kristen Steidler (Somers, Conn.), Amanda Nusbaum (Conway, N.H. ), Julia Bireley (Franklin, Mass.) and Ann Mahoney (Saratoga Springs, N.Y. ) each served up one goal to assist in the Pride's road victory.

Sophomore Olivia Strobl (Stafford, Va.) led the Blue's offense with three goals with help from Lena Engbretson (Beaverton, Ore.) who tallied two goals and won one draw control. First years Carley Phillips (Waterford, Conn.) and Anna Eichhorn (Westport, Conn.) and senior Mary Lemay (Longmeadow, Mass.) added one goal a piece for the Blue. Senior Courtney Peterson (Glastonbury, Conn.) earned game-high honors with five ground balls.

Two quick goals from Schroeher and Corsano put the Pride ahead 2-0 at 26:39. Springfield's patient play in Wellesley's offensive quarter payed off time and again in the first fifteen minutes of play seeing Schroeher score twice more including a goal off of a free position shot. Steidler's goal at the 18:26 mark was a result of a feed from behind the net from Corsano putting the Pride up 5-0. After a Springfield turnover, Wellesley broke through the visitor's defense with Eichhorn's goal. Feeding off of the momentum, the Blue struck back with a flurry of goals in under four minutes, knotting things up 5-5. A free position shot from Schroeher gave Springfield a 6-5 lead, heading into the intermission.

Springfield opened the second stanza with two more free position goals from Corsano and Schroeher. Wellesley was able to answer with a goal from Engbretson at 20:37. Wellesley went on to score two more goals, but it wasn't enough to stop the Pride's offensive push.  The Pride netted another seven goals to seal the 15-8 win.

Senior Gabby Anderson (Mahopac, N.Y.)  turned away six shots in the win for Springfield while Senior Wendy Nettleton (La Jolla, Calif.) also stopped six shots and was saddled with the loss.

Wellesley will take a break from conference play when it travels to Colby on Sunday, April 2nd for a 1:00pm game. Springfield College will continue NEWMAC play on Saturday, April 1st with a 1:00pm game.