Throggs Neck, N.Y. – November 16, 2024 – The Springfield College football team won the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) for the fourth-straight season following a 55-20 win at Maritime on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Springfield secured the NEWMAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament and will learn who it will play next on Sunday evening at 5 pm when the tournament field to the is revealed on NCAA.com. Improving to 10-0 with the victory, Springfield wrapped up the fourth undefeated in season in program history joining the 1965, 2003, and 2017 teams which had an unblemished record.
Arsen Shtefan (West Hartford, Conn.) was unstoppable for the Pride as he rushed for 231 yards on 25 carries and scored three touchdowns, while Blane Hart (East Lyme, Conn.) also found the end zone three times while rushing for 74 yards as Springfield finished the day with 414 yards on the ground . Bily Carr (Southington, Conn.) racked up 12 tackles and Will McKay (Tewskbury, Mass.) added nine stops to help power Springfield to its 26th-straight conference victory.
Steven Sassi threw for 166 yards and two scores for the hosts and Luke Caliendo totaled 88 yards on the ground.
Springfield turned Maritime over on downs to start the game as the hosts' 10-play drive which last 4:26 came up empty. Five plays later, Shtefan barreled his way into the end zone from six yards out to make it a 7-0 contest at the 8:28 mark.
After the Mariner's next drive ended in a bad snap on the punt, Springfield took advantage of a short field taking over on the hosts 22 yard line. Springfield would double its lead with 5:35 on the clock when Hart found room on the left edge for a three-yard score.
Early in the second quarter, Springfield coughed up the ball on their own 28 yard line and Maritime capitalized with a 13-yard strike from Stassi to Nate Casaburi with 13:09 remaining in the half. On Springfield's next possession, Shtefan busted through the line on the second play of the drive for a 61-yard score as the Pride's lead grew back to 21-7 at 12:16. After the teams traded possessions, Tyler Paladino (Cross River, N.Y.) came up with a huge interception alongside the Pride sideline to give the ball back to the visitors as the hosts were inside the visitors 30 yards line. Springfield would then find the end zone for the fourth time on the day in the waning seconds of the second quarter when Joe Cannizzaro (Lincoln Park, N.J.) muscled in from two yards out, capping off a nine-play drive. Will Aviles (Bethlehem, Pa.) would make a sensational one-handed interception to close out the first half for Springfield as they went into the locker room with a 27-7 lead.
The Pride opened the second half with a tremendous, 12-play, 71-yard drive that lasted nearly seven minutes as Hart again found the edge for a four-yard touchdown with 8:06 on the clock. The Mariners responded with an impressive drive of their own, going 14 plays before Devin Cline found paydirt from six yards with under three left in the third.
Springfield would erupt for 21 points in the final quarter of play, with Shtefan bursting through the middle for a 30-yard touchdown just 51 seconds into the stanza. Maritime again was turned over on downs and Springfield iced the game with a 14-play drive which lasted nearly eight minutes as Hart crossed the goal line for the third time with under two minutes to play. Maritime would use an 83-yard kick return to set up their third score of the day less than 30 seconds later, only to have Carr recover the attempted onside kick and race 40 yards for the touchdown with less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation to complete the scoring.
FOUR-STRAIGHT -- Springfield College Wins NEWMAC Championship With 55-20 Win Over Maritime
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20241116_rb0p.xml
2024
Springfield
55
SUNY-Maritime
20
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 23 Springfield (10-0) | 14 | 13 | 7 | 21 | 55 |
| SUNY-Maritime (7-3) | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
Nov 16, 2024