Volume 137 No. 9

The Springfield Student

Not one, not two

(Photo Courtesy of Springfield Athletics)

A long time coming

After original plans for the trip were canceled in

2020, Marty Dobrow and Calvin Hill will travel South with select students during spring break to look at the history of Civil Rights in America.

Luther King Jr. was the co-pastor with his dad. They will also visit The Museum of Amer ican Civil and Human Rights, as Dobrow hopes to see MLK’s birth site and the CNN Headquarters.

From there, the fac ulty and students will make the trip by car to Alabama, where they will go visit the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. They will also visit the Ed mund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and a few spots in Montgomery; includ ing the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and The Legacy Museum. From there they will make their way back to Atlanta, where they will return to Connecticut on Wednesday evening.

Dobrow, who has often written on topics of social justice, teaches a course in Journalism Social Justice. He is really looking forward to educating students about the history of civil rights.

may interfere with the trip happens.

“Fingers crossed, knock on wood, fourleaf clovers, every con ceivable piece of good luck (that helps make this trip happen),” Do brow said. “The COVID journey is one that we are managing better in our country and on our campus, but it hasn’t gone away. I certainly hope that there is not a reprise that would knock this out. But at this point, it seems like all systems are go.”

The cost of the trip is around $450. Howev er, Springfield College is covering about 75% of the cost, making it much more affordable for students and fami lies.

“I’m so supportive of that,” Dobrow said. “The College should be underwriting this, the College should be opening up these oppor tunities to students, and you still get a few days of your spring break.”

@rivermitchell27

With COVID-19 re strictions a thing of the past, alternative spring break trips are back in full swing at Spring field College for the first time since 2019.

One of the trips, which will be led by Com munications Professor Marty Dobrow and Vice President for Inclusion and Community En

gagement Calvin Hill, will go to Georgia and Alabama on an educa tional vacation to learn more about the history of civil rights in Ameri ca. Professor of English and Assistant Dean of Arts and Sciences Mis sy-Marie Montgomery, and Director of Spiritu al Life David McMahon will also join the trip.

The trip will begin on Saturday, March 11, as the group will leave from Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Conn. and fly to Atlanta, G.A. Once there, faculty and students will visit The King Center, and go to a church service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin

“I love seeing the excitement of students as they are awakened to these issues,” Dobrow said. “Springfield Col lege draws a lot of very good-hearted students, who I think are hungry to learn this kind of history.”

This exact same trip was scheduled to hap pen in March of 2020, but was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dobrow is feeling optimistic, but hopes that nothing that

There are still slots available for the trip, and there is a brief Google form that asks students to fill out necessary information. This is followed by a very brief interview process. If there are any questions about the trip, or you are interest ed in attending, email Calvin Hill at chill@ springfieldcollege.edu or Marty Dobrow at mdobrow@springfield college.edu.

Dobrow and students in St. Augustine in 2019. (Photo Courtesy of Springfield College)

___ By RiveR Mitchell ___

Small cast, large aspirations

__ By Nick PaNtages @nick_pantages22

After weeks of nonstop hard work and rehearsals, the Spring field College school play will take place on four separate occasions this week.

“The Taming” is a political satire with an all female cast, and focuses on using politi cal extremes for laughs. Springfield College Professor of Theater Arts Martin Shell said,

“It’s a political comedy, but you don’t have to have a political attitude to enjoy it.”

It involves the quest of a beauty pageant model who is going to embark on a journey to rewrite the Constitu tion, with the help of an ultra conservative sen ator’s aide, and a super liberal blogger.

“It’s a satire, it’s real ly wacky. It’s silly,” Shell said.

The constant re hearsing of the play has been a lot of hard

work for the actresses, but also the backstage people.

“We’ve been rehears ing for six or seven weeks. It’s been a good process, very fun,” Shell said.

The actresses have had to put their memory skills to the test when learning lines. There are nine roles in the play, but only three actresses to cover the roles. This means extra work and memorization of lines, something that has been a process.

The preparation by the actors will be seen through their perfor mances, but the back stage people have been vital to the process of the play. They have to put together sound effects, construct a set and make the costumes, which are many tasks that require effort and creative thinking.

“Everybody’s re hearsing all these differ ent moving parts that the audience doesn’t necessarily see, but it is part of the fun of the

show,” Shell said.

Performances will take place this Friday at 7:30, Saturday at 2:00 and 7:30, and Sunday at 2:00, all at Fuller Arts Center.

Overall, the play should be a good op portunity for students to bond together over something that every one can find funny.

Shell said, “Our hope is that we have some good audiences and that they’re ready to have fun.”

Four performances of the politcal satire play ‘The Taming’ will take place starting on Friday in Fuller Arts Center.

From fanhood to front office

Springfield College alum Rob Crain has carved out a career in sports by working his way up to Senior Director of Corporate Partnership Sales for the Boston Celtics.

___ By Sean Savage @SeanSav13

“As you grow into your career, fanhood is never the driving factor.”

Springfield Col lege alum Rob Crain is living many ad olescents’ dreams, working in the professional sports world.

However, he claims the desire to be a fan gets lost as you grow older, but he still has a strong passion for what he does. How is that so? A glimpse into his journey provides the answer.

Born right out side of Pittsburgh, basketball was never Crain’s first love. Baseball is what he gravitated toward. His mom was his first T-ball coach.

Additionally, he loved the game of hockey, and he was a Pittsburgh Penguins fan growing up.

“Sports have been

around my entire life,” Crain said. His passion for baseball stuck with him through his col legiate career, as he was a relief pitcher for the Springfield baseball team.

Outside of ath letics, Crain embod ied a true academic

scholar. He was a double major in Sport Management and Business Man agement at Spring field.

His desire to work in the sports world skyrocketed as he saw Boston Red Sox general manag er Theo Epstein’s

impact in baseball. Crain graduated in 2004, the same year Epstein helped end one of the most prolonged World Series droughts in the history of Major League Baseball: the Red Sox winning their first World Series championship

in 86 years.

Through 2004 he interned with the Houston Texans as an operations and scouting intern.

Out of college, Crain started his career in the world of baseball. He sold group tickets for the Southwest Michi gan Devil Rays – an affiliate of the Tam pa Bay Devil Rays in the Midwest League - in 2005-06.

Following his time there, Crain had a few other no table jobs before the Celtics.

He also worked with the Omaha Storm Chasers as their assistant gen eral manager, was the president of the Scranton Oak Rail riders, and worked with Worcester Red Sox as the chief rev enue officer.

Additionally, Crain did his own

Crain posing with a large replica of the Larry O’Brien trophy. (Photo Courtesy of Rob Crain)

consulting for a few years and worked at Topgolf, where he ran the partnerships department on the East Coast.

After 17 years of working primarily in Minor League Baseball, his least favorite part was the hours.

“You would have to work all the games, and between 12-16 hours per day,” Crain said. “Sports are a place where you put in extra hours. Most of my days are 9-to-5 days, but there are game days that are much longer.”

Although the hours were quite long, Crain quickly learned that every thing was not that bad. The former CEO of the Red Sox, Larry Lucchino, said something that has stuck with him to this day:

“We work in the toy department in life,” Lucchino said, and Crain believes there is truth in that.

Crain came to realize there is a

distinction between strenuous hours and long ones. “People that really put in strenuous hours are the ones who are really working for a living,” Crain said. “People who build houses, tile guys, construction guys, and more are the guys who really have to put in strenuous hours.”

As the Celtics’ Senior Director of Corporate Partner ship Sales, Crain sells sponsorships. When watching a Celtics game in the arena or on TV, some advertisements go around, and his job requires him to sell the advertising in the arena to those brands.

To this day, through the variety of work Crain has done, he loves the creative side of being in the sports business.

“At the end of the day, you are really making memories for people, and you are really having an impact on them,” he

said. He feels lucky he can make this happen.

Crain believes that he always had to continue to perse vere. Until then, he was always worried about the next step in his career. How ever, there is a new factor in the equa tion – his family.

Crain feels like life is different now. His goal is to be fulfilled professionally while being able to spend time with his family and not miss import ant things.

“Now [being there to watch my kids grow up] is much more import ant than any other title,” he said.

Crain is satisfied with where he is at. His hours are better, and he can better balance his time spent with his family.

“No job will ever be sunshine and roses,” Crain said. “But this job with the Celtics is pretty

great.”

Although the reasoning behind his career path is not hanging around the team or players, it was his best career choice.

“Growing up, I would always go to Celtics games,” he said. However, again, he grew out of that phase of his life.

“The fanhood does not matter – I was the biggest Red Sox fan in history through college,” Crain said.

He concluded, “At the same time, I still do love the Celtics, and I do like what I do.”

(Photos Courtesy of Rob Crain)

(Photo Courtesy of Rob Crain)

‘Kindness is really zero dollars, it costs nothing’

The week of SEAT at the Table events kicked off on Monday, including Kushal Bhandari’s session titled, ‘Dismantling the Dynamics of Racial Microaggressions.’

___ By Cait Kemp ___ @caitlinkemp09

Kushal Bhandari is no stranger to experiences involving microaggres sions. In his SEAT at the Table session titled, “Dis mantling the Dynamics of Racial Microaggressions”, he discussed how these small, sometimes unin tentional, comments can really affect someone and their everyday life.

Bhandari is an interna tional student from Nepal who had to overcome many difficulties to even get to Springfield College, as he was a first-year stu dent during COVID when there were many restric tions on travel. On top of the hard journey he had to endure to even make it to campus, the injustices against him just because he looked different added to the stress that he was dealing with.

One of the main focus es of the presentation was that it is easy to overlook people because of their differences, but that is what makes everyone so unique.

“After I came to Amer ica, the microaggressions were so overpowering that I had to just sit in my

room because it took a big toll on my mental health,” Bhandari said. “I tried to make friends with people but they just wanted to avoid me and the awk wardness.”

Microaggressions are both intentional and unin tentional insults targeted at marginalized groups, meaning that sometimes people may say things that are considered a micro aggression without even knowing it. Some com mon examples are, “Your English is so good,” or, “But where are you really from?” These types of comments perpetuate ste reotypes and are hurtful to those who are experienc ing the injustice.

Bhandari told the audience how the micro aggressions and bullying he has experienced have hindered his opportunities at Springfield College. He didn’t want to join any groups or clubs, and he even stopped going to his P.E. classes to avoid his confusion over new games that he doesn’t know.

“I have to just jump in and play different things, different games and do all

the training. I just get lost and there’s no one to train me. If I make mistakes, people start laughing at me and it just lowers my confidence. I don’t want to go to classes because of this,” Bhandari said.

Bhandari urged ev eryone to be more aware about what they say and how they act around peo ple who may not be like them. He also went on to give examples of different ways to ask questions or make comments so that they do not come off in an aggressive manner.

Arguably the most

important point Bhan dari made: educate your self. It is so easy to go through life with strictly the knowledge you built from your home life and upbringing. However, as college students ap proach the real world, it is essential to learn how to interact and communi cate with different people. Look for opportunities to build relationships, use the privilege you may have to speak up, be kind and do your own research to expand upon the system of oppression and racial prejudice.

Bhandari’s presenta tion shined a light on the importance of awareness of microaggressions and speaking up against them. It just takes a matter of small changes to make the world better for everyone, and like Bhandari said, kindness can go a long way.

“Kindness is really zero dollars, it costs nothing, but it is worth beyond any comparison,” Bhandari said. “Just remember that your kindness could mean so much, it could elevate someone’s confidence.”

Bhandari addressing the crowd during his SEAT at the Table event. (Cait Kemp/The Student)

What’s up with the Wellness Passport?

__ By Luke Whitehouse @Lwhitehouse12

Have you ever gone to an event on campus, seen a QR code on the flier and wondered what it was for?

Well, that is where you can scan in and earn a “stamp” on your Wellness Passport.

The Passport is one of the main components of the new Core Curriculum at Springfield College. The Core Curriculum replaced the prior General Education requirements, which ran through the graduating class of 2023. It took many years to develop and a handful of faculty and staff were involved in the process.

But many students are confused about the proce dure of getting stamps, how many stamps to get and when they are allowed to get them.

“As a student who lives on campus, it can be con fusing,” said Brady Cote, a junior in the Communi cations/Sports Journalism major. “It’s not something you often hear about.”

For juniors, it has been exceptionally difficult because they are the “test” class, and the first ones who have gone through the new Core. As of now, they are required to com plete three leveled Well ness courses in order to be eligible to start receiving Wellness Passport stamps, and then must accrue 48 stamps, which are a re quirement for graduation. Many are questioning why it was implemented and the thinking behind it.

According to the course catalog, the Wellness Passport is “a co-curricular degree requirement that builds on students’ Wellness and Physical Literacy Core requirements, and pre pares students to incor porate wellness across the lifespan while encouraging them to pursue an active, healthy lifestyle.” Students are required to choose from a range of options and events during their third and fourth years

(after completing their 300-level Wellness and Physical Literacy course) that “allow them to fur ther explore and develop personal wellness practic es and physical literacy.” Activities fall under three types of wellness: physi cal, mental, and meaning and purpose.

Director of the Core Curriculum and Associate Professor of Religious Studies Katherine Dugan offered insight into the logic behind it.

“The pedagogical idea is that you take three one-credit Wellness courses that introduce you to a wide range of well ness things,” Dugan said. “The Wellness Passport is a way to put those prin ciples into practice. The idea is that when you go off after college, you have the skills and practice of lifelong physical and well ness literacy.”

While there has been little disagreement about the purpose of the Pass

port, there has been debate over the number of stamps required for graduation. According to Dugan, there are 454 students who are eligible to start their 48 stamps. Of those students, 204 have yet to earn a stamp. This has been concerning for some faculty members, many of whom act as advisors to these students. The main concern is that students tend to take their three level Wellness courses over the span of two or three years, leaving little time to complete all 48 stamps.

Professor of Commu nications Martin Dobrow spoke at the Faculty Sen ate meeting and shared his thoughts about this being an equity issue.

“I do wonder about the wisdom of starting with something that is stress ing a large number of stu dents at a time when there is a very high level of stress across the campus,” Dobrow said. “It seems to be that the lower target, as a starting point, would make a lot of sense.”

It has also posed a chal lenge to commuting stu dents, who often are not on campus after hours and many of them have jobs that they have to attend outside of school.

Nate LaTour, an English major, was one student who attended the meeting to discuss his concerns.

“Personally, I feel like it’s a lot for some people like me, who both work on campus and have off-cam pus commitments,” La Tour said. “For example, I’m going to be coaching high school basketball in the winter. So every single day of the week, and often nights, my schedule is pretty crazy. I’m meeting with coaches, helping them run practices.”

Although reducing the number of stamps has been mentioned, it’s

not necessarily a widely agreed upon conclusion.

Many faculty members said that they thought it was more of a communi cation issue, that students were not always aware when they had the oppor tunity to earn stamps.

“48 stamps is a lot of stamps,” Dugan said. “And because of that we have made many opportunities. It’s hard for an event [on campus] to not be a Well ness Passport event.”

On Monday, Nov. 7, after much consideration, members of the faculty senate met to discuss reducing the number of required stamps. The fac ulty senate is a group of representatives from each department that meet to discuss important issues, such as this.

The group had voted last year to reduce the number from 48 to 24, but were asked to reassess and reconsider that vote based on new information. On Monday, the Senate voted once again to uphold the motion to reduce the number of stamps from 48 to 24.

“I think it will make the Wellness Passport a more equitable program for all of our students,” said Anne Wheeler, Chair of the Department of Literature, Writing, and Journalism.

Although the vote was conducted, the ruling is just a suggestion, and not a final determination. The motion will now go before Springfield College pro vost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Mary Ann Coughlin to make a final decision.

“Other students I’ve talked to also do stuff off campus,” said LaTour. “If working and doing those sorts of things would translate into the Well ness Passport, that would help.”

(Photo Courtesy of Springfield College)

Kay Shen

Kay Shen took this week’s Spring field Student Women’s Athlete with 40.5 percent of the vote. The soph omore swimmer earned this after she won the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.60 seconds in the Pride’s meet against MIT on Saturday.

The runner-up in the poll was Megan Crawford with 23.8 percent of the vote. The junior diver had the highest score for the Pride in the one-meter and three-meter dives in Springfield’s meet against MIT on Saturday.

Right behind Crawford was Ri ley Donahue with 21.4 percent of

Joe Maurer & Chase Parrott

The Springfield Student Men’s Athlete of the Week was tied at the top, with Joe Maurer and Chase Par rott both taking the title with 29.2 percent of the vote. Maurer had two impactful interceptions along with four tackles in Springfield’s 16-14 win over MIT on Saturday. Parrott went undefeated in five matches at the Ithaca Invitational this past weekend, and he won the 149-pound title at the event.

Jonathan Chan was very close be hind them with 27.7 percent of the vote. The sophomore swimmer was

the runner-up in the 200 freestyle and the 400 individual medley rac es in the Pride’s meet against MIT on Saturday.

Rounding out the vote was Dante Vasquez, who garnered 13.8 per cent in the poll. The sophomore running back for the football team ran for 106 yards and a 46-yard touchdown in Springfield’s 16-14 win over MIT on Saturday.

Be sure to follow @TheSpfld Student on Twitter to vote in the next poll!

the vote. The sophomore outside hitter for the women’s volleyball team combined for 29 kills and 20 digs in two NEWMAC Tourna ment games. This included 16 kills and four service aces in the Pride’s three-set win over Coast Guard on Tuesday.

Megan Kirtyan rounded out the vote with a respectable 14.3 per cent. The first-year setter for the women’s volleyball team racked up 34 assists in the Pride’s threeset victory over Coast Guard on Tuesday.

Joe Maurer (left) and Chase Parrott (right) (Photo Courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Kay Shen. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Q & A with Erin Leeper

As Springfield College’s Title IX coordinator, Leeper is deeply involved in gender equity issues and dedicated to creating places of belonging on campus.

that was doing that for students. I went away but the stars aligned to bring me back home and I was excited to come back.

Gentry: Could you explain what you do on a day-to-day basis?

to things post-COVID. It’s been great when we talk to students at our table events and they’ve already heard about things like Title IX through their classes or events put on at the campus.

Gentry: Do you think Springfield students are different from other college students?

___ By Olivia Gentry ___ @oliviag3ntry

In August of 2020, Erin Leeper – who earned a Master’s degree in student personnel admin istration at Springfield College – returned to her alma mater as the school’s Director of Non-Discrim ination Initiatives and Title IX Coordinator. One of her first tasks: imple menting the new Title IX regulations that went into effect on Aug. 14, 2020. Since then, she has worked closely with students on Title IX issues as well as matters of student conduct, and diversity and inclusion. Leeper spoke with The Springfield Student about her role and her path.

Gentry: What drew you to Springfield College?

Leeper: I came to grad school for the Stu dent Affairs program. I’ve always been interested in working with students in higher education. It was a sad day when I finished that program, but I’ve always had Springfield on my mind as a place to come back to. The com munity that we have is awesome, students just really love being here, and we create a great sense of belonging. Students feel valued here and I want ed to be part of a school

Leeper: My day-today is always evolving. Sometimes it can be heavy in the Title IX area in responding to sexual harrassment cases or reports regarding dating violence. But I make sure we’re connecting with these students, providing support and resources. I try to do a lot of educa tion and prevention work, especially around violence prevention so we don’t have a lot of those student reports coming in. There’s a balance of both the pre vention and the response. I’m also involved in committees across campus that focus on the student experience, so that we’re being proactive in creating an inclusive community.

Gentry: How would you say your non-dis crimination events have affected campus culture?

Leeper: We have name recognition across cam pus. Sometimes this type of work is ignored until someone needs it, which can be really unfortu nate. But we’ve had much better name recognition in the past couple of years, especially with adjusting

Gentry: Could you give some examples of the support systems that Springfield has on campus?

Leeper: Usually when something happens, the student would have a meeting with the dean of students and she can talk to them about connect ing with our counseling center, health services, and off-campus connec tions with the YWCA, which is the local domes tic violence and sexual assault resource that we have available to us in Western Massachusetts. We can also talk to stu dents about getting their housing changed and also work with them if they need some extensions on assignments or exams in the immediate aftermath of the event. We can also work with students on creating schedules for the dining hall, library, and gym so that survivors can still have access to all those areas without seeing the person that caused them harm. We also try to just be flexible with students’ needs and want to meet students where they’re at.

Leeper: I do because they are much more aware of what’s going on in the world, their place in it and where they can have an impact. I think through our programming we’re encouraging them to continue thinking about that. Dr. Kathy Manga no’s Humanics project is having students think about how we advocate for the continuation of Title IX’s impact. This fits into so many of our academic programs and lets us think about how our students can impact the world – which is part of the leadership and service to others aspect of our mission statement that is ingrained into every member of the Springfield College community.

For more from Erin Leeper about the responsi bilities of her role and how Title IX impacts the College campus, check out her in terview with Distinguished Professor of Humanics Kathleen Mangano for her project, Title IX at 50: Edu cate & Advocate. A webcast of the full interview can be viewed at springfield.edu/ TitleIXat50

(Photo Courtesy of Springfield College)

The Posse prevails

The Springfield women’s basketball team defeated Western New England 56-48 on Tuesday night.

as Angie Czeremcha and Sam Hourihan combined to put the Golden Bears in a 10-0 hole early. But they would fight back, as they held the Pride to zero points over the final 6 minutes and ended the quarter down just one.

The second quarter started with the Pride and Golden Bears trading shots every possession. Springfield finally pulled away, as they went on a 7-0 run late in the quarter which allowed them to go into the half with a comfort able 23-17 lead.

to multiple double digit leads throughout the quarter.

But the Golden Bears just wouldn’t go away. With under two min utes left in the game, down 51-41, they pro ceeded to go on a 7-0 run, shrinking Spring fields lead to three.

All Springfield needed was to sink two foul shots and get a stop and the win was theirs.

Throughout the night it had been a back-andforth battle as the Pride would take a big lead and then the Golden Bears would fight back and make it close again. So, of course, with 18 seconds left it was down to foul shots. Sam Hourihan, who was the Pride’s leading scorer,

___ By Luke Whitehouse @lwhitehouse12

stepped up to the line with a four point lead.

Swish! Swish! She knocked down both. Back-to-back free throws were made, and now they had to stop the Bears from getting a good look. Western New England guard Emma Kahn missed a three and it was cor ralled by Springfield guard Rachel Vinton, her 10th of the game, forcing the Golden

Bears into a must-foul situation.

The Pride ended up pulling away with a 5648 hard-fought win. Springfield began last season with a huge win over Western New En gland, setting them up for a historic run to the NCAA tournament. And they looked to replicate that as they hosted the Golden Bears Tuesday night in Blake arena.

The Pride started fast

The Pride knew they had to step it up on of fense if they were going to win this game.

“Get the ball inside.. it’s pretty simple,” Springfield head coach Naomi Graves said. “We need to start scoring inside-out, not out side-in… I wanted them to attack.”

The Pride did just that as they outscored their opponent once again in the third quarter and extended their lead to eight.

Going into the 4th quarter, the offensive adjustments by the Pride continued, leading

Just as it had all game, the Western New En gland offense picked up when it needed to and the defense fed off that. With 27 seconds left the Golden Bears took a time out, and Graves took this time to tell her team two things: “Capitalize on offense, and stop the three point shots.”

In the end, the Pride scored the final five points, and pulled off the huge win.

Hourihan led the team with 18 points, while Jaélen Daubon added 14 points. Vinton put to gether a solid all-around performance, chipping in nine points, 10 re bounds, three assists and two steals.

The Pride start the season 1-0 and look to add another win Friday as they hit the road to face Amherst College at 7 p.m.

Angela Czeremcha shooting on Tuesday night. (Photo courtesy of Danielle Schmeling/The Student)

McClendon era starts with a loss

The Pride men’s basketball team struggled on both ends of the floor, suffering an 89-55 defeat to Western New England in their season opener.

___ By Garrett Cote ___ @garrett_cote

Mike McClendon emerged from the depths of Blake Arena, where the Springfield men’s basketball team’s locker room is located, shortly after the Pride’s 89-55 blowout loss against Western New England on Wednesday night.

McClendon wore the same wide smile he possessed before tip-off as he walked toward his loved ones who were waiting patiently to embrace him. Hugs and kisses from his kids, his wife and other mem bers of his family soon followed.

Despite his first career

game at the Birthplace not going as planned, having his support system there was what mattered most.

“At the end of the day, it’s a game,” McClendon said. “It’s an important game, but it’s a game. Family is so much more important for me, and having them here to support me was huge. Unfortunately, they had to witness that. But I wouldn’t be able to get through a loss like that if they weren’t here.”

It didn’t take long for Springfield to realize it was outmatched. The Golden Bears jumped

out to a 17-3 lead in the blink of an eye, putting the Pride in scramble mode from that point on. Springfield went seven minutes and 53 seconds of game time with no points, and this allowed Western New England to only expand its lead as the first half progressed.

“We’ve got a lot to fix,” McClendon said. “We got punched in the face. Today we just didn’t have it, offensively or defensively. They were able to hit a ton of shots, and when you’re going against a team that can hit a ton of shots on the regular, it’s going to be

tough. Especially when you’re not locked in.”

A 9-0 spurt sparked on the defensive end –leading to good looks in transition – brought the score to 33-20 late in the first half, but the Golden Bears closed the final stretch with an 8-0 run of their own to regain momentum heading into the break.

“They stayed together, they were talking more and they were engaged more,” McClendon said of the difference in play during the 9-0 run. “A lot of the times during the game, we were disen gaged with each other. In that stretch, we showed what we were capable of. The problem is, we couldn’t sustain it.”

The Pride were out-rebounded 47-30, a direct correlation to them being outworked and outhustled. For a team that has so desper ately preached to not re peat last season’s night mare, the lack of energy presented Wednesday doesn’t seem to match that notion.

“Rebounding is just a mentality switch,” grad uate student and captain Daryl Costa said. “I truly believe that. When you want to do it, you’re gonna do it. We haven’t wanted it yet, we haven’t

got there yet.”

Even with Springfield down by 35 points late in the second half, every member of the Pride that was on the bench was chanting “defense, defense” and encouraging the players on the floor. The culture and comrad ery is certainly evident, but translating that chemistry to the court is still a work in progress.

“We lost that fight within us throughout the game,” Costa said. “We’re complaining about the grind when that’s what we came here to do. We came here to get better, we came here to play, we came here to win. We’re not there yet, but I got full faith in my guys. We don’t give up, and it’s only up from here.”

Springfield travels to Western Connecticut State on Saturday for the Western Connecticut State Invitational tour nament. The Pride will have two games over the weekend — two chances to right the ship.

“Back to the drawing board, that’s all,” Mc Clendon said. “I’m going to find guys who are going to put their heads down and go to work. It’s time to really go to work and see who wants this thing.”

McClendon and assistant coach Sean Martin pregame. (Nico Fiscella/The Student)

Zeke Blauner adjusts in mid-air while attempting a layup. (Nico Fiscella/The Student)

Down to the wire

The Springfield football team had its closest game of the season against MIT, as the Pride won 16-14.

___ By Chris Gionta @Chris_Gionta

Pressure built throughout Stagg Field on an unseasonably warm November after noon. The Springfield College football team was leading 16-14, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) lined up at Springfield’s 25 yard-line on a thirdand-eight situation with 42 seconds left and no timeouts.

MIT quarterback Chase Harmon took the snap out of the shot gun, and six members of the Pride blitzed. Springfield’s coverage

downfield was unflappa ble, making it difficult for Harmon to find any one. There was nowhere to scramble, either. When he began toward his right, Billy Carr and Quinn Sweeney were closing in off their blockers. Still in the pocket, Harmon threw the ball away, with no Engineer in the area. After discussion be tween the referees, they dropped a flag to mark an intentional ground ing call and a six-yard loss.

On fourth-and-14, the

Engineers brought their special teams unit out for a 47-yard field goal attempt. Amidst the horns and shaking of cowbells at Stagg Field, MIT’s kicker booted the ball wide right and a little short.

The Pride were one kneel-down away from a 16-14 win.

Springfield’s efforts were symbolized in the final few plays, with the defense refusing to give in. The grit displayed was a large reason why the Pride did not allow any second half points.

“Our defense played great,” said Spring field defensive back Joe Maurer. “Our front gets a lot of pressure — they stopped the run like they always do.”

Maurer came through for some of the biggest moments of the game. With Spring field down 14-13 and coming off a turnover on downs, MIT had a second-and-seven situ ation at its 48 yard-line. When Harmon threw it across the middle, Maurer jumped the route and hauled in the interception.

On the Engineers’ next drive, they were at the Pride’s eight yardline. Harmon dropped back and rolled to his left. With linebacker Aiden Lewin coming at him, he threw to the left corner of the end zone, and Maurer was there to grab his second inter ception of the day.

“I just had the tight end running the out route, then he started to turn upfield, and I guess he cut it off, then I turned and the ball was there,” Maurer said. “I knew I was close to the sideline, so I was just trying to get my feet down.”

What followed his first interception were the only points either team scored in the sec ond half. At MIT’s 40 yard-line, a fourth down conversion on a Jacob Silvester seven-yard run brought the Pride closer to field goal range. Springfield gained

four more yards, then reached fourth down again.

Christian Hutra lined up for a 46-yard field goal attempt. He kicked it through comfortably, setting a new career long, and gave the Pride the lead with 14:55 left in the fourth quarter.

The Pride did not score again, but they had a productive posses sion in the fourth quar ter that made it difficult for MIT to come back. After Maurer’s second interception, Spring field ran 12 plays on a drive that lasted 6:27. The most notable play of the drive was on a third-and-10 situation, when quarterback Da vid Wells avoided two blitzers and scrambled for a 13-yard gain.

Finally, Hutra sent a 34-yard punt that was returned to the Engi neers’ 16 yard-line with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter.

The lack of time and timeouts did not stop the Engineers at the start of the drive. The first play of MIT’s drive was a pass down the middle to Collin Des Roberts for a 24-yard gain. Next, Harmon connected with wide re ceiver Andrew Hutchi son down the right side for a 33-yard gain that brought them to Spring field’s 27 yard-line.

However, the Pride locked down — forc ing an incompletion, a 2-yard pass play, and an

The Pride improved their conference record to 5-0 with the victory. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Postseason roundup

___ By Braedan Shea @braedan_shea

Field Hockey:

Although the Pride obtained home-field advantage by being the higher seed, No. 4 Spring field College (9-10) fell to No. 5 Smith College (9-10) 1-0 in the opening quarterfinal round of the NEWMAC championship tournament on Stagg Field on Nov. 1. After a scoreless first half, the Pioneers delivered what would prove to be the game’s only goal just over three minutes into the sec ond half off of a penalty corner. The Pride, who had triple the amount of penalty corners and dou ble the amount of shots, were unable to capitalize. After starting the season off just 2-6, Springfield turned completely around, winning seven of its next 10 matchups – one of which against Smith, and finishing the regular sea son with a 9-9 record, and 5-3 conference record.

Women’s Soccer:

In a double-overtime thriller against No. 4 Clark University (11-5-2), No. 5 Springfield College (8-7-1) women’s soccer team came up short in the NEWMAC Championship Quarterfinal, losing 1-0 on Nov. 1. In a game filled with missed opportunities by both teams, Clark got its big break in the 104th minute, when a Cougar header found the back of the net, proving to be the only goal of the game. The Pride had a couple of chances late in the game, but couldn’t capitalize on either of them, and they were handed a first-round exit. It may not have been the ending that the Pride wanted, but it was still a historic season; as gradu ate-student Kaleigh Dale etched her name atop the record books as Spring field’s all-time leader in points (128) and goals (54).

Women’s Volleyball:

After cruising past No. 6 Coast Guard (18-7) in the NEWMAC Champi onship Quarterfinals, 3-0, No. 3 Springfield College (18-8) women’s volleyball team was downed in three sets against second-ranked Babson College (21-7) on Nov. 5. Despite great performances by the Pride’s top two players –graduate Ally Townsend, who led all players with 11 digs, and sophomore Riley Donahue, who led all players with 13 kills – Springfield’s offense was held dormant; only putting up 20-or-more points just once. It was a disappointing end for such a great Springfield season, but there were some silver linings: specifically in how incredible Townsend and Donahue played. Both were some of the best at their positions in the conference, as Townsend led the conference in digs with 505, where Donahue led the conference in kills (328) and points (405.5).

Football:

On Nov. 12, the Spring field College football

team will make its way to Washington, D.C., seeking to retain the NEWMAC Championship throne against a familiar oppo nent, Catholic University. Just last season, the Pride beat the Cardinals, 2814, to win the conference tournament at home on Stagg Field. This season, Springfield looks primed to repeat, as they seemed to have hit its stride. Com ing into the game with a 7-2 record, the Pride have won their last six matchups, five of which were against conference opponents. Thanks in large part to its triple-op tion gameplan approach, Springfield has literally run through the NEW MAC conference thus far.

displayed an impressive performance to finish in 26:08.3, and Aidan Harm er, who posted a time of 27:13.5, finished 17th and 29th overall, respectively, as well as junior Christo pher Vayda, whose time of 26:15.5, was good enough for 18th overall. Next up for the Pride is the NCAA Division III Regional Championships on Nov. 12.

Women’s Cross Coun try:

Men’s Cross Country:

At the NEWMAC Cross Country Champion ship hosted by Wheaton College at Highland Park on Oct. 30, the Springfield College cross country team placed fourth over all in the eight-kilometer race, with 103 points. The Pride were led by seniors John DeRosa, who

The Springfield Col lege women’s cross coun try program put together a seventh place finish at the NEWMAC Women’s Cross Country Champion ships on Oct. 30, tallying 211 points. Kate Bonanno proved to be the Pride’s top finisher with a time of 23:47.2, capturing 26th overall. Elizabeth Rose notched a 24:59.7 time, placing her 41st, while Elina Olmedo clocked a 25:14.4 time, putting her in 44th. Springfield will head to the NCAA Divi sion III Northeast Re gional Championships on Nov. 12.

The women’s volleyball, women’s soccer, and field hockey teams all competed in conference tournaments, and the cross country teams are coming off their annual NEWMAC races.

The Springfield women’s volleyball team swept Coast Guard in its first NEWMAC Tournament game. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

‘It’s not easy even when we know it’s coming’

Springfield Student Co-Editor-In-Chief and senior field hockey player Cait Kemp reflects on her career in the sport following the end of her final college season.

__ By Cait Kemp @caitkemp09

When I was a senior in high school, I decid ed that I didn’t want to play sports in college. I had always played and was a three-sport athlete throughout high school. I started to think that I just wanted to do something dif ferent and redefine my identity. I didn’t want to just play sports. I need ed to find other things I was passionate about, and college was the per fect time to do it.

I had decided upon this, until one day I was in class with my high school field hockey coach, who was also the health teacher. I was talking to her after class like we usually did, dis cussing practice or an upcoming game. I told her that I didn’t think I wanted to play any more, that I was content with moving on from field hockey after high school. She looked at me and said, “You have to play field hockey in college.”

Like I said, I was a three-sport athlete, so even if I did want to continue my career I

wasn’t even sure what sport it would be. My coach told me that she knew I could play field hockey in college and that it was no question to her that field hockey was my sport. From that day on, I

was stuck on the idea of playing at the next level. I was already into my senior season and had not pursued any recruiting opportunities, so walking on to a team was going to be my only option.

I visited Springfield

College for the first time toward the end of the field hockey season – the day of my last-ev er high school game, to be exact. I had to do a shortened version of the tour since I had to get home for my game. I talked with the graduate

assistant for the team and thought I could see myself playing in college. It solidified my dream to play even more.

From there, I began to email coaches from some of the schools I was interested in. My top two became Springfield and Roger Williams University. I also applied to Worces ter State (too close to home), Framingham State (never even saw the campus) and Stone hill (Division II at the time, now Division I, so not a real chance at playing). I emailed the head coaches at Spring field, and RWU. I only received a response from Springfield, and quickly it became the school I wanted to go to.

Of course, I fell in love with Springfield upon another visit to campus – learning more about the Com munications program and really seeing my self here. However, the thing that initially pushed me to want to come to Springfield was field hockey. The thing that I didn’t even want to keep doing was now

Kemp provided quality defense for the Pride for three seasons. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

continued from Page 12

intentional grounding call that led up to the missed field goal.

“It was scary there down the stretch — they had a couple completions,” said Springfield head coach Mike Cerasuolo. “But, the kids stepped up, had some key moments.”

The game started with momentum for the Pride, as they forced a three-and-out on MIT’s first possession, then scored a touchdown on a 46-yard run by Dante Vasquez.

The Engineers proved tough by re sponding with an efficient drive of their own. A 29-yard Dennis Gastel reception and

23-yard Jay Theriault set them up for a great scoring opportunity. MIT took advantage when Harmon con nected with tight end Jonathan Berger for a nine-yard touchdown.

Springfield had a pair of long drives that resulted in Hutra field goals to make it 13-7 in its favor. The Engineers found the end zone again later in the half when Harmon threw a deep ball to Gastel for a 52-yard score.

The second half featured impactful mo ments for each defense, and it was ultimately the Pride who pulled it out.

Springfield will go on the road to face Catholic on Nov. 12 at 12 p.m.,

a driving factor in my decision. And without a guaranteed spot on the team, it perhaps was a gamble. But like my coach told me that day in her classroom, I was going to play collegiate field hockey, and she was right.

I chose to continue to play, and maybe being a student-athlete was a part of my identi ty. However being at Springfield, a school that values athletics so much, it felt right to be on a team here. I wasn’t done playing yet and Springfield College gave me the chance to keep “athlete” as part of my characteristics. It did define me, but that

wasn’t at all a bad thing like I had thought back in high school.

Fast forward four years and here I am, without the luxury of having the choice of playing anymore. Now it is time to redefine my identity. I have been an athlete for the past 15 years of my life, and suddenly, it just stops. I am lucky that I can look back and be proud of the career I have had. The cheesy thing to say is to leave it all out on the field, but I think I did just that. Field hock ey brought me great lessons, values, friend ships, discipline, struc ture and joy. Without it, my schedule will surely

feel empty, but I can be so grateful for what it brought to me even in the worst moments.

As one season ends and another begins, only more “lasts” for senior athletes will come. I know the collegiate athlete experience is not uncommon, however it is a moment in our lives that we have to encounter. It’s not easy even when we know it’s coming. So here’s to great final seasons, walking away without any regrets, and rede fining our identities. We’ll always be athletes, it’s just time to figure out what that means for us now.

where the Pride look to clinch its second consec utive NEWMAC title.

Catholic is also undefeated in the NEWMAC, and the team is led by a danger ous passing attack led by quarterback Nico Casares. The senior has 297.8 passing yards per game, along with 16 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

The Cardinals defeat ed MIT 42-7 on Oct. 1, but that was the only NEWMAC opponent they handled better than Springfield. Catho lic’s wins over WPI and Coast Guard were de termined by one score, while the Pride defeated those teams by 38 and 43 points respectively.

Christian Hutra lining up for the go-ahead field goal. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Football

Kemp playing youth field hockey. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Sports

End of the Journey

(Photo courtesy of Cait Kemp/The Student)

Springfield Student Co-Editor-In-Chief and field hockey player Cait Kemp reflects on the end of her run in the sport after the conclusion of the team’s season.