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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Visiting Nazareth claimed an early 2-0 lead in the first three minutes of action, but Springfield took control in the second half by outscoring the Golden Flyers 7-3 in the final two quarters. The Pride went on to defeat Nazareth 11-8 in the non-conference game.

The 17th-ranked Golden Flyers fall to 0-1 in their first game of the 2011 season. Springfield improves to 2-0 with its victory. Nazareth had a 7-0 record against the Pride before falling to Springfield Saturday afternoon. The Golden Flyers had edged Springfield by one goal in three of the last four contests, and Nazareth defeated the Pride 11-7 last year.

After receiving a pass from junior #C.J. Estes#, sophomore Brian Wright put Nazareth on the board 2:33 into the contest. Just 15 seconds later, senior all-American Joe Jacobs-Ferderbar extended the Golden Flyers' lead to two goals after receiving a pass from fellow-senior Doug Milano-Johnson.

The Pride's potent offensive attack answered with four consecutive goals in a span of 2:20. Shawn Runyon ignited the run with two goals that were separated by 37 seconds to tie the game. Kyle Louer and Jarrid Johnson also scored to give Springfield a two-goal lead with 9:00 remaining in the first quarter. After combining for six goals in the opening six minutes of the game, the defenses held the offenses off the board until the second quarter.

Jacobs-Ferderbar led the Golden Flyers' rally as he set up a goal by junior Nate DeLone and senior all-American Scott Castle to tie the game with 9:20 remaining in the quarter. Milano-Johnson reclaimed Nazareth's lead with 4:53 to play before the half after Castle found him with a well-timed pass.

Louer and Jacobs-Ferderbar traded unassisted goals to open the second half to leave the Golden Flyers ahead, 6-5. After Jacobs-Ferderbar's goal, however, the Pride scored six of the next seven goals spanning the remaining 9:33 of the third quarter and 1:29 of the fourth quarter to take an 11-7 lead with 13:31 remaining in regulation. Shane Ferguson had two goals and an assist during the run to lead Springfield. Johnson, Louer, and Runyon each added another goal while Parker Geane tallied his first of the game.

Castle slowed Springfield's run temporarily as his goal cut Nazareth's deficit to 8-7 with 3:12 to play in the third quarter. The Golden Flyers, however, did not find the back of the net again until Estes scored with under six minutes to play in the game. Estes assisted on Castle's goal and junior John McDonnell was credited with setting up the goal by Estes.

Springfield finished with a 44-42 edge in shots and a 36-25 advantage in ground balls. The Pride had a 24-14 advantage in ground balls in the final 30 minutes. All-American Mark Eaton won 12-20 face-offs to set up Springfield's offense. Senior Kyle McLean finished 7-20 and freshman Trevar Haefele was 2-3 on face-offs for Nazareth.

Sophomore Tim Doyle started the game in net for the Golden Flyers and was credited with six saves and allowing eight goals in just over 41 minutes of action. Junior Grant Williams played the final 18:57 and recorded five saves and three goals against. Robert Maher and Conner Nash each saw 30 minutes of action in goal for the Pride. Maher allowed Nazareth's first half goals and made six saves. Nash, who was credited with five saves, shutdown Nazareth's rally by allowing the Golden Flyers just three goals on 21 second half shots.

Nazareth hosts non-conference rival, and 13th-ranked, Geneseo in its home opener, March 5th.