Springfield 4, WPI 1 

Box Score

Worcester, MA --- Springfield erupted for three goals in 6:31 span midway through the second half en route to defeating host WPI 4-1 in NEWMAC men’s soccer action on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Pride is now 6-7-1 on the season and 3-2 in conference play while WPI slips to 3-8 overall and 0-4 in NEWMAC action.

With the score tied at 1-1, Colin Cook (Wilbraham, MA) gave Springfield the lead for good in the 67th minute when he connected on a 25-yard free kick from the right side. The Pride scored just 1:08 later when Brett Drake (Enfield, CT) scored off a feed from Henry Ruggiero (Stow, MA). SC closed out the scoring in the 74th minute when Cook knocked home his second goal of the match after a long throw in from Ruggiero.

The first half was tightly contested. The Pride opened the scoring when Chad Bonnell (Hazlet, NJ) finished a feed from James Ashcroft (Shelton, CT) in the 13th minute. WPI evened the match in the 37th minute when Jason Gray (Carver, MA) notched his first goal of the season following a nifty pass from Ben Gilde (Manchester, NH).

Springfield goalkeeper BJ Sturdivant (Bear, DE) recorded four saves to earn the victory. Engineer netminder Steve Hoffer (Lake Placid, NY), was credited with nine saves on the day, including three remarkable stops a two-minute stretch early in the second half.

For the afternoon, Springfield enjoyed a 24-9 advantage in shots including an impressive 15-4 edge in the second half.

WPI returns to action on Tuesday with a road match at Gordon beginning at 3:30pm. Springfield entertains Brandeis on Wednesday evening at 7pm.