SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – No. 3 seeded MIT outscored No. 2 seed Springfield College, 11-1, over the course of 35 minutes of action before going on to record a 13-8 victory in the semifinals of the NEWMAC Men's Lacrosse Championship on Thursday night. With the win, the Engineers advanced to the title game for the third time in program history and the first since making back-to-back appearances in 2022 and 2023.
THE BASICS:
- Score: MIT 13, Springfield 8
- Records: MIT (9-7 Overall); Springfield (10-6 Overall)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Springfield opened the game with three goals in the first 3:13. However, MIT responded with a goal from Bryce Metalios that was set up by Zach Bleil at the 10:17 mark and then Riley Pierce found the back of the net with 8:44 on the clock. The Pride increased its lead to 4-2 over three minutes later, but the Engineers cut their deficit in half with two seconds to go when Theo Perkins redirected a feed from Metalios.
- Pierce connected on a pass from Garrett Campagna for a man-up goal just 1:54 into the second quarter, tying the score at 4-4. The remainder of the frame was a defensive battle as the deadlock held at halftime.
- MIT generated four unanswered goals to go ahead for good as Pierce and Metalios scored twice, including a man-up goal by both. Springfield narrowed the gap to 8-5 at the 5:24 mark, however, Mason Prettyman won the ensuing faceoff and went directly to net. Pierce followed with an unassisted goal with 1:17 remaining, resulting in the 100th point of his career.
- The Engineers extended their lead to 13-5 courtesy of goals from Metalios, Hayden Calabretta, and Bleil during the first 4:36 of the fourth quarter. The score remained unchanged until there was 4:06 left to play when the Pride recorded the first of three consecutive goals down the stretch.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Pierce produced five goals and four groundballs while Metalios finished with four goals and one assist.
- Campagna dished out four assists as Stone Smith corralled five groundballs.
- Alexander Shen led the way with three caused turnovers to go along with three groundballs while Daniel Patterson collected three groundballs and two caused turnovers.
- Kaden Fenno won seven of 13 faceoff attempts and posted six groundballs as Prettyman went 6-of-11 in faceoffs and notched six groundballs.
- In net, Collin Lung generated 13 saves.
UP NEXT:
- MIT will travel to top-seeded and nationally ranked No. 4 Babson College for the NEWMAC Championship on Saturday, May 2 at 1:00 PM.
- This will be the second meeting between both teams in the title game. In 2023, the Beavers edged out the Engineers, 15-14, in overtime.
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