NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--The Smith College field hockey team (2-8, 1-4 NEWMAC) begins the first of four consecutive games at home when they host NEWMAC rival Clark University (7-2, 1-1 NEWMAC) on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. 

Last Meeting: Clark opened up a 3-1 halftime lead en route to a 5-1 win over Smith on October 9, 2010.  The Cougars opened the scoring just 65 seconds into the contest, but Smith equalized through Nia Spooner (Bronx, N.Y./Fieldston School) at the 3:44 mark.  Clark went ahead for good in the 16th minute, and added goals in the 23rd, 58th, and 68th to seal their first NEWMAC win of the season.

Last Smith Win: Smith grabbed a 3-2 overtime win on October 24, 2006. Alex Janos scored a penalty stroke to give the Pioneers a win on the final game of the season.

Smith Overview: The Pioneers lost a tough 6-3 game at Springfield College on October 4.  Smith took the lead just seven minutes in on Allie Stein (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer)'s team leading eighth goal of the season, but the Pride got two quick goals to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.  They added another three minutes after the break, but Alexa DeJesus (Somerset, Mass./Somerset) scored her fourth of the season to cut the lead to 3-2 before Springfield put the game out of reach with three goals in 12 minutes.  Sydney Burns (Woodbury, N.J./George School (Pa.)) pulled another one back for Smith for the final margin. 

Clark Overview: The Cougars saw a seven game winning streak ended with a 6-1 loss to Babson College on Tuesday night.  Before the loss, the Cougars had been on a tear, winning their games by an average score of 5-1 and scoring at least four goals in a game in five of the seven wins.  Clark has also played the fewest number of conference games, with this being just the third NEWMAC contest of the season for the Cougars.

Smith Player to Watch: Allie Stein (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) - since returning from injury, Stein has shown her value to the team with two goals and two assists in the three games she's played in upon her return to the field.

Clark Player to Watch: Mel Melkonian - the junior forward leads the team, the league, and the nation in scoring, having racked up 20 goals in nine games.  Those 20 goals account for 54% of the teams offense.

Did you know? Clark head coach Linda Wage is the longest tenured coach of any NEWMAC school, having been at the Cougars' helm since 1984.  She is the all-time winningest coach in field hockey and softball.