Springfield College Men's Lacrosse Eases Past Emerson To Stay Atop NEWMAC Standings

Photo is courtesy of Srpingfield College

Springfield, Mass. - The Springfield College men's lacrosse team eased past Emerson College, 27-2, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) outing on Stagg Field Saturday.

Springfield boosts its record to 5-7, 3-0 in league play, while the Lions remain winless at 0-10, 0-3.
The Pride held a 59-7 edge in shots, a 43-16 cushion in ground balls, and won 21-of-33 at the face-off "X".  A total of 44 student-athletes saw the field for the Pride, including five goalies.  Kevin Dean (Westhampton, N.Y.) led all players with seven points, while Ben Menard (South Hadley, Mass.) added four goals.  Dylan Sheehan (Massapequa, N.Y.) recorded three goals and an assist in the first quarter, Ben Shea (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) added three-second half strikes of his own, and Jack Vail (Franklin, Mass.) stuffed his stat sheet with two goals and four assists.

Tyler Heckmann (Brookfield, Conn.), Matthew LaCroix (Westfield, Mass.), and Austin Sierra
(Longmeadow, Mass.) split the face-off duties, with Sierra going 8-for-11 down the stretch
The Pride wasted little time seizing control of the game as it poured in 12 goals in the opening 15 minutes of play.  Dean assisted on the Pride's first four goals, including a pair of snipes by Sheehan, and would in total rack up six assists and an goal in the quarter.

Springfield's lead grew to 14-0 with 7:35 left in the half following consecutive strikes by Menard.  The visitors scored the last two goals of the first half, getting an unassisted strike from Nicholas Kitsos and a man-up marker from Jack Bushell.

In the third quarter, the Pride poured in nine goals, including four in the final 1:09 of the stanza.  Shea and Menard each potted two goals, and second-year defensemen Aaron Cook (Billerica Mass.) and Justin Renk (Liverpool, N.Y.) both scored in transition, which brought an uproar from the Springfield faithful.

The hosts tacked on four more goals in the fourth quarter to seal the win, including the game's final tally from senior defender Nick Palladino (Cheshire, Conn.).

The Pride will now prepare for another important conference game at Coast Guard, which will be played on Wednesday, April 20 at 7:00 pm.