Brigit McDannell ’18
Sports Editor
The midseason for Smith fall sports proved challenging but ended with many wins this past week. Some teams prevail during this season while others struggle to increase their wins. Many teams face New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) games — games that are incredibly stressful and put a lot of pressure on the top athletes of the team. These games determine Smith Athletics’ overall ranking amongst other New England Division III schools.
Playing in Norton, Mass., the Pioneer Field Hockey team defeated the Mount Holyoke Lyons 7-2 and the Wheaton Lyons 3-2, both NEWMAC games on Saturday, Sept. 26. Alex Larosee ’19 made her first career goal in minute 55, propelling the Smith Field Hockey team ahead of Wheaton 3-2. Larosee’s tally came on an unmarked ball in traffic, followed by an intense penalty corner for Smith. The Pioneers scored four more goals in the final 15 minutes, improving to 3-4 on the season, 2-0 in the NEWMAC overall.
Smith opened the scoring at minute 11 when Elsie Odhiambo ’17, attacked the circle from the right wing and carried the ball to goal. Five minutes later, Wheaton had their first lead of the game when Katie Peters struck a penalty corner with Kelsey Harris on the assist. Smith’s Mariah Ollive ’18 received a pass and entered the circle with great speed, sending a shot across the face of goal to the back post. Luckily, Bayleigh Bogan ’19 was there in the nick of time to score her collegiate goal. The Pioneers outshot Wheaton 9-6 in the first half and earned six corners to the Lyons’ one.
The second half proved no challenge for Smith. Eleven of the 12 shots came off of Smith sticks, winning all 10-penalty corner shots. This monumental game marks the first time Smith has scored at least seven goals in a NEWMAC match since 2008, when Smith beat Worcester Polytechnic Institute 8-3.
Playing at Babson Park Field in Western Mass., the Smith Soccer’s NEWMAC game against Babson College ended in a draw of 1-1, Saturday, Sept. 26. Maya McCann ’17 opened the game, scoring in during minute 16 with her first career goal. Goalkeepers Camryn Biasin ’18 and Shelby Hall ’18 made 14 saves combined. The opening goal for the Babson Beavers was a result of Smith’s attempt at a second shot of the afternoon. Unfortunately, Babson’s Elizabeth Mycock denied Innis Hitt’s ’17 effort. The stalemate pushed both Smith and Babson to move to 0-0-2 in the NEWMAC leaderboards.
Competing against Regis College in Cambridge, Mass., the Smith Volleyball team lost 3-1 to the Pride. Still, the match was not so disappointing for the Pioneers. Marcarena Rojas ’19 made a career high with 13 kills while Mei-Li Smith ’16 added to the season high with 23 assists and 18 digs. Although Rojas’s and Smith’s efforts were valiant, they could not defeat Regis, who ended the third match with a five-point lead.
Placing at the 35th Annual Codfish Bowl at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass., the Pioneer Cross Country team’s Casey Hecox ’19, finished tenth out of 161 other runners. She made an impressive 5k time of 19 minutes and 39 seconds. The Pioneers finished sixth out of 12 teams at the meet, and placed second out of six Division III teams.
