Springfield 3, WPI 1

Box Score    

Springfield, MA --- The Springfield College men's soccer team snapped its three-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the visiting WPI Engineers on Saturday afternoon in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play.

With the win, the Pride improve to 3-4-1, 1-1 in league play, while WPI drops to 3-4, 0-2.

WPI wasted no time scoring the first goal of the match as Ben Gilde (Manchester, NH) found the back of the net just 1:39 into the contest.  Off a free kick from teammate Tommy Zajac (Merrrimack, NH), Gilde headed the ball into to top left corner of the goal to put the visitors up, 1-0.

In a very physical and emotionally charged match, the Pride would hold WPI scoreless for the rest of the match, while Springfield in turn netted three unanswered goals.

John Plourd (Southampton, MA) collected a rebound off a teammate's shot and scored his team-leading third goal of the year at the 29-minute mark to tie the game at one.

Coming out of the second half, Brett Drake (Enfield, CT) put the home squad up for good as he tallied his third goal of the season just over five minutes into the second stanza.  After Eric Stalsburg's (Old Saybrook, CT) shot deflected off the crossbar, Drake came running and knocked the ball into the back of the net to put Springfield up 2-1.

Matt Montgomery (Colchester, CT) added an insurance goal for Springfield in the final three minutes of play as he was credited with his second goal of the year after his cross was deflected by a WPI defender past goalie Paul Moan (Watertown, MA).

For the Pride, Kevin Leahy (Cheshire, CT) finished with two saves in the win as he faced just six shots in the contest.  Moan made four stops as he faced 15 shots by the Pride.  

Springfield returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 30 when it travels to take on Amherst at 7pm.  WPI heads back to Western Mass on Wednesday for a 7pm match at Elms.

Release courtesy Springfield Sports Information