Springfield, MA --- Kaitlyn Suller (Oviedo, FL) tallied two of Springfield's four first half goals as the host Pride jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and then held on to defeat WPI 4-2 in NEWMAC women's soccer contest played Saturday afternoon at the Irv Schmid Sports Complex. 
 
With the result, Springfield ups its record to 5-8 on the season and 4-3 in conference play while WPI, slotted fifth in the latest United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III Region II rankings, falls to 9-4-2 overall and 4-2-1 in NEWMAC action.   The two teams are separated by a single point in the conference standings with WPI sitting in fourth place, with 13 points, a point ahead of the Pride.    
 
SC's first goal came in the fourth minute of the game when Katie McFerran's (Selkirk, NY) initial shot was saved and Suller was able to score off of the rebound.  Six minutes later, Suller drove down into the box and crossed the ball to Healy who buried one in the top left corner to put Springfield up two.
 
In the 21st minute, McFerran found Mottura near the opposite post who was able to score her first goal of the season.  The Pride added another goal when Lauren Darrell (Wethersfield, CT) sent a ball to Suller who ran onto the it and lifted the ball over the goalkeeper at 34:18.
 
WPI would not go away quietly, using a quick restart on a free kick to pull one back with just 10 seconds to go before intermission when Sera Brunner (Littleton, CO) set up Tiziri Tizi-Ougdal (Acton, MA) for the rookie's third goal of the season.  The Engineers would creep closer midway through the second half as senior Fiona Prendergast (Sudbury, MA) netted her first career goal off a feed from Maeve Steckley (Rochester, NY) at 66:39. 
 
The Engineers held a 20-17 edge on shots while the Pride led 5-2 on corner kicks. Mairead Marsden (Amsterdam, NY) had eight saves in the win for the Pride while Ayla Verheul (Naarden, The Netherlands) and Maya Mussel (Oxford, CT) split the halves in net for the Crimson and Gray with Verheul credited with one stop and Mussell posting a career-high six saves.
 
WPI will host Emerson on Wednesday at 6pm while Springfield will travel to Wellesley the same day for a 3pm matchup.
 
Portions of Recap Courtesy Springfield Sports Information