Box Score NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--Becky Bracken (Barrington, R.I./Barrington) scored four of her game high five goals after halftime, but a furious rally by the Smith College lacrosse team fell short in a 14-9 defeat to New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe Mt. Holyoke on Tuesday afternoon.

The Pioneers dipped to 3-9 and 0-4 in NEWMAC play, while Mt. Holyoke won for the second time in three games to improve to 5-6 and evened their record at 2-2 in the NEWMAC.

Mt. Holyoke opened the scoring with two goals 91 seconds apart from Vika Planson and Hilary Bombard, but Smith reduced arrears five minutes later on an unassisted tally by Sofia Nakhnikian-Weintraub (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene) and Meaghan Fileti (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Palos Verdes) leveled the score with a goal at the 13:36 mark. 

Molly McDonald scored three of the next four goals for the Lyons, with one more by Christina Horimoto before Bracken stopped the bleeding with a free position goal with 8:15 to play in the first half.  Mt. Holyoke would close out the stanza with goals from Planson, Horimoto, and Liz Randolph to take a 9-4 lead into halftime. 

Smith made a change in goal at the start of the second half, and the introduction of Alina Pechacek (Andover, Mass./Phillips Academy) seemed to galvanize Smith, as she made seven saves in the first 10 minutes of the half, and Bracken netted her second goal 13 seconds in to pull Smith within four. 

Randolph scored twice, along with Bombard, increasing the lead to 13-5, but the Pioneers started to rally.  Pechacek made a trifecta of saves on Horimoto and Katya Planson, and Bracken scored her third at the 11:29 mark.   Fileti won the ensuing draw control and Bracken netted again to make it a 13-7 game.   Smith again controlled the draw, this time through Kate Detrick (Petaluma, Calif./Sonoma Academy), and it was Fileti's turn to get in on the scoring, and the process was repeated the next time down, with Bracken getting yet another goal, cutting the lead to 13-9 and forcing Mt. Holyoke into a timeout.

The Lyons clamped down defensively, limiting Smith to one shot in the final five minutes, while Randolph netted her fourth goal of the game to complete the scoring. 

Pechacek finished with 13 saves, all in the second half.  Meredith Kallfelz started and made four saves for Smith, while Melissa Saale made five saves for Mt. Holyoke.

The Pioneers will keep looking for their first home win of the season, when they play host to Wellesley College in a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, April 16.  Mt. Holyoke will travel to Babson College on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tilt.