NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team was efficient with their shots in hopes of a victory, but fell short in a 4-3 loss at host Smith College this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play on Smith Turf Field in Northampton, Mass.
The Lyons conclude their season with a 6-13 overall record, including 2-7 in league play, while the Pioneers improve to 8-10 and 5-4. Smith earned the number four seed in the NEWMAC Championship Tournament and will host fifth-seeded Springfield College on Tuesday, October 31 at 7:00 p.m.
Senior keeper Emma Lapreziosa (Bowdoinham, Maine) stopped 18 of 22 shots to keep Wheaton in the game and her last stop resulted in her 500th career save. She marks her time with the Lyons as one of five goalies in school history to reach the milestone. The goalie also completed the season with 205 saves to rank as the sixth-highest single-season total in program annals.
Smith owned a 25-8 shot disparity, including a 9-1 advantage in a scoreless first quarter. Wheaton scored single goals in the second, third and fourth quarters, despite shot totals of two, one and three in each of those periods. Conversely, Lapreziosa and the Lyon defense kept the Pioneers off the board in the first and third quarters of play. Smith owned 7-3 margin in penalty corners for the match.
Sophomore forward Callahan Day (Shade Side, Md.) scored the game-winner with 1:41 left in overtime when she fired a shot into the far right corner for her sixth goal of the season to give Smith a 4-3 victory. Junior forward Caroline McShea (Pittsburgh, Pa.) threaded a cross to Day at the top of the goal mouth to set up the marker.
The Pioneers had faced two one-goal deficits in the match, before scoring twice in a span of 3:24 in the fourth quarter to take a 3-2 lead.
Wheaton knotted the game at 3-3 when junior midfielder Macey Poitras-Cote (Northborough, Mass.) ripped a penalty stroke into the bottom left corner of the cage for her second marker of the year with just 84 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Lyons cracked the scoring column first, early in the second quarter, to take a 1-0 lead just 2:29 into the period. Junior forward Delia Knox (Cumberland Center, Maine) sent a cross to the top of the goalmouth, where sophomore forward Riley Levrault (Lakeville, Mass.) received the pass and fired a shot past the keeper for her fourth goal of the season.
Smith looked to match the score immediately when junior forward Laura Dreher (Durham, N.H.) was awarded a penalty stroke just 10 seconds later, but Lapreziosa made a stick save to her right to keep the home team off the board.
The Pioneers broke through with 4:17 left in the second period with a score off a penalty corner. Dreher sent the insert pass to the top of the arc on the left side, where junior midfielder Annie Wimsatt (Westerville, Ohio) fired a shot into the far right corner for her third tally of the season to knot the game at 1-1.
Wheaton reclaimed the lead midway through the third quarter to go ahead, 2-1. Knox came up with a loose ball in a scrum in front of the net and while moving away from the cage, she flipped a shot into the right corner for her team-leading seventh marker of the year with 8:03 to go in the quarter.
The Lyon defense held strong for the remainder of the quarter and through the first five minutes of the final quarter, before Smith erupted for a pair of goals.
Junior defender Kyleigh Poot (Fairfax, Va.) controlled the ball along the endline and was able to wrap a shot around the Wheaton goalie in the left slot to pull the home team even at 2-2 with 5:21 gone in the fourth period. The Pioneers took the lead for the first time of the afternoon when they found the back of the cage just over three minutes later. Dreher fired a shot from 10 yards out that eluded the Wheaton keeper for her 11th score of the year coming with 6:25 left in the period.
Sophomore goalie Abby Halpin (Pine Bush, N.Y.) finished the match with four saves for Smith.
