Springfield off to 4-0 start with win over Villa Maria

SPRINGFIELD >> Springfield’s girls lacrosse team is off to a 4-0 start, and Cougars coach Keith Broome thinks the Cougars are capable of even more.

“I don’t think we played [today] as well as we can play,” said Broome. “We had some unforced errors and were getting beat on ground balls in the first half.”

Broome has room to be picky with his perfect squad, which posted an impressive 13-6 win over Villa Maria Academy Friday afternoon.

Springfield, holding on to a slim 6-4 lead early in the second half, exploded for sixth straight goals to take a commanding 12-4 lead with 11:02 left.

“We did a nice job in the second half,” said Broome. “We started getting draws, and had a nice run.”

Springfield junior attacker Bailey O’Brien had two of those six goals and led all scorers with four goals on the day. Sophomore midfielder Olivia Little and junior midfielder Bridget Whitaker each tallied three goals for the Cougars.

“Bridget Whitaker did a good job with draw control, made good passes and played good defense today,” said Broome.

Last year: 22-3, District 1Class AAA Champs Coach: Nicole Hartshorn Key returning players: Maddie Abbott (Sr., P), Brianna Wright (Sr., IF); Sarahrose Jonik (Sr., C) Outlook: Abbot is arguably the top returning pitcher in Class AAA, and has a solid, if young, supporting cast featuring as many as five freshmen who have won starting roles. Wright has a knack for coming up with the key hit in key situations and anchors a line-up that should give Abbot plenty of run support. Look for Villa to make another deep run for new coach Nicole Hartshorn.

ROBERT GURECKI — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Springfield’s Bailey O’Brien, left, tries to move around VillaMaria’s Brenna Murray in girls lacrosse action Friday at Springfield.