Springfield Suffocates Pride; Salisbury Next
from press release
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield College men's
lacrosse team shut down visiting Widener University, 7-1, in the
opening round of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament on
Wednesday afternoon. Sophomore goalie Marc Martinez had his best
collegiate game as he registered a career-high 18 saves in the
win.
Springfield will now advance to the second round and will travel
south to square off against #2-ranked Salisbury University on
Saturday at 7:30 pm. It marks the third-straight season that the
Pride has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"It was a good game. The final score was not indicative of how well
Widener played. They are a well-coached team," said Springfield
head coach Keith Bugbee. "Certainly, the defense carried us today,
and Martinez had a great game. The fact that we were challenged
today will help us at Salisbury Saturday. Salisbury is one of the
flagship programs in Division III men's lacrosse."
The Pride of Springfield now stands at 13-5 on the season and have
won 11 of its last 12 games. Widener's season comes to a close with
a 10-10 record.
Martinez was the difference in the contest as he racked up 18
saves, arguably the finest game of his young career. The last time
Springfield surrendered just one goal in a game was April 19, 2006
when it cruised past Norwich, 24-1.
"Let's give credit to Springfield College. They were a very good
defensive team," said Widener head coach Jamie Lockard. "But at the
same time, I thought we were a little sluggish. Springfield came
out with more energy than we did, and it made a difference in that
first quarter. In addition, we turned it over too much, and you
just can't do that at this time of the year. No matter who you play
at this stage, that team is going to be a good team. As for the
year, I told our team we had an impressive run at season's end. We
played four games, all on the road, in eight days. I think it was a
case of our simply running out of gas. But I was very proud of how
we finished up the season."
For Springfield, Mike Delia recorded a game-high three points on a
goal and two assists, all of which came in the first quarter. Kyle
Louer recorded a pair of goals in the win, while Joe Macchi, Jarrid
Johnson, Joe Heney, and Kyle Gable each netted markers.
Pilgrim Lacrosse League Player of the Year Mark Eaton went 7-of-9
on face-offs, including a perfect 5-5 in the first half. Delia
picked up a team-best five ground balls, while Mike Smith anchored
the Springfield defensive unit with three caused turnovers. Smith
spent most of his day keeping Widener's leading scorer, Cory
Malampy, without a single point.
Bobby Schluter finished with 11 saves between the pipes for the
visitors, while Steve Cull scored their lone goal. Dave Simcox
totaled three ground balls and caused three turnovers on the
afternoon.
Louer opened up the scoring 3:04 into the contest as he buried a
shot all alone from 10 yards out after receiving a feed from Delia
that sliced through the Widener defense.
Delia then found the back of the cage with 1:27 left in the first
quarter as he slipped through the Pride defense and buried an
Austin Orsini pass from behind the cage. Just eight seconds later,
Springfield struck again to gain a 3-0 advantage as Delia once
again factored in on the scoring for his third point of the first
quarter. After snagging the ground ball off the face-off, Delia
raced toward goal and fired a pass to Heney who ripped home
Springfield's third goal of the frame.
Widener found the back of the cage for the first time on the
afternoon at the 10:34 mark of the second period as Cull took a
great feed from Mark Kane and ripped a shot into the top right
corner of the cage. Widener was poised to continue its momentum as
Springfield was flagged for a penalty just as the goal was scored.
But SC was able to kill the minute penalty and maintain its
two-goal cushion.
The visitors continued to pour on the pressure in the second
quarter as Springfield nearly played the entire quarter on defense.
In the stanza, Widener outshot Springfield, 12-2, and limited SC to
just 3-of-7 on clear attempts. However, Springfield was able to
weather the offensive onslaught and went into the half up 3-1.
Johnson scored Springfield's first goal in over 23 minutes as he
beat Schluter to the near post with 6:57 left in the third.
Springfield used another quick strike as it did in the opening
quarter to gain a 5-1 advantage. This time, Louer scored 52 seconds
later after he made an athletic dodge to his left and rocketed a
shot into the top left corner of the cage.
With under a minute to go in the third, Springfield called a
timeout to set up an offensive set. Out of the break, Macchi spun
to his left and ripped home his team-leading 31st goal of the
season to give the Pride a 6-1 lead after three quarters of
play.
Gable slipped home the final goal of the game with 5:59 remaining
in the contest as he stuffed home a shot along the crease while
being cross-checked which Widener was flagged for. The final
quarter was marred with penalties as the team combined for seven
penalties, including four by the visitors.
For the game, Widener held a 37-29 advantage in shots, including a
23-9 advantage in the second and third quarters combined. The Pride
won the ground ball battle, 27-22, but committed 21 turnovers
compared to the visitors' 19.
