Madeline Hubbard ’19 | Head Sports Editor
As the fall foliage flourishes and the crisp autumn air sweeps through campus, fall sports are in the midst of their own transformations as they reach the peaks of their seasons. This weekend, Soccer, Field Hockey and Crew all had major contests in the adverse weather.
Soccer and Field Hockey headed out fired up to play Babson, a fierce competitor in the NEWMACs. The teams played back to back on Macdowell Field in the rain determined to collect a win to make the road to Post-Season play just a little smoother.
Field Hockey played first at noon, holding the 11th-ranked Beavers to a 1-0 half and a 3-0 game. The Pioneers had seven shots to Babson’s 23, and they were beat out drawing penalty corners with seven to the Beaver’s 11 corners. Keeper Channy Cornell ’22 had a fantastic game in cage with 11 saves. When asked about the game senior and NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Week, Beatrice Chaudoin ’19, said, “Our team showed up and played well against Babson. Even though the outcome was disappointing, I think that the experience will set us up for success in the future; knowing that we can play at that level.” Adding to that, Captain Emily Biggs ’19 said, “Despite the final score, we’re proud of the way we played and ambitious about the next contest.”
Immediately following the match, Smith Soccer took the pitch to battle Babson. The pioneers came out strong, getting the first point on the board. The goal was scored by sophomore defenseman Jessica Matsuoka ’21, her first goal of the season. The Beavers immediately responded to the attack, hungry to even the score. A hard back-and-forth battle was fought for the rest of the game, Smith continuously holding off Babson’s attacks. With five minutes remaining on the clock for regulation time, Peyton Mcbride ’21 was awarded a penalty kick for a foul and Reilly Sullivan ’20 netted her third goal of the season just under the crossbar. Celia Tasho ’19 commented on the game, “I thought we looked really strong and played as one big unit. We were all pretty frustrated with how the season has been going so this was [a] big win not just for season, but for team morale.” This victory is the first time the team has beat Babson since 2005. The 2-1 win sets up the pioneers with a good chance at post-season play. Echoing Tasho, Maggie Pacheco ’19 said, “The team felt awesome afterwards. The entire bus was celebrating and super optimistic about our play.”
Saturday morning the crew team headed to the Connecticut River to race in the Hadley Chase, hosted by UMass Amherst. The team sent two boats in the Varsity 8 race. Eleanor Donaher ’20 from the Varsity 8 boat said, “Overall, it was a great meet for us. We all came together as a team and pulled hard, especially our novices, who had their first ever race.” The Varsity boats finished 12th and 17th out of 25 boats with times of 16.36.2 and 17.18.7. Anna Fruend ’20, in the second Varsity 8 boat, commented that “[i]t was good racing in hard conditions. I think we were competitive even with D1 crews.” In the Women’s Collegiate Novice 8, the team finished 5th and the Varsity 4 Boats finished 10th, 15th and 26th, with times of 18:00.2, 18:50.0 and 20:03.0. Donaher said that the team is excited to attend the Head of the Charles this weekend. She declared that, “It’ll be a huge honor to represent Smith in one of the biggest Regattas in the US.”
Catch the Pioneers this weekend as they plow through their opponents this autumn. Volleyball has their annual Hall of Fame Tournament this weekend and plays Brandeis and Plymouth State University on Saturday here at Smith. Field Hockey faces off against their longtime rival, Mount Holyoke, on Saturday in South Hadley and Crew heads to Boston for the Head of the Charles.
