Box Score NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--Meaghan Fileti (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Palos Verdes) scored six goals and set up two more as the Smith College lacrosse team defeated Massachusetts Institute of Technology 17-15 for the first time in 11 years on Saturday afternoon.  The win gave Smith its first league triumph since 2008.

Smith (3-3, 1-0 NEWMAC) pulled away late in the first half, then weathered a comeback attempt by the Engineers (1-5, 0-1 NEWMAC).  Smith also got two goals apiece from MK Pasini (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley), Jessica Lillquist (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme), and Petru Bester (Deep River, Conn./Valley Regional), while Becky Bracken (Barrington, R.I./Barrington) netted a hat trick and Jenny Estes (Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) and Mckenzie Hessel (Portland, Ore./Wilson) each found the net once.

The Engineers opened the scoring on a goal from Emma Kane that came 1:07 into the contest, and made it 2-0 on a free position goal by Kaitlyn Nealon.  Pasini got Smith on the board with a free position goal of her own, and Bracken fed Fileti for a tied the score, then gave Smith the lead they would never relinquish with her first goal of the game.

MIT leveled when Molly McShane scored at the 22:45 mark, but Smith began to pull away - scoring seven of the next nine goals in the game, including the final five of the first half, to take a 10-5 lead at halftime.  Fileti had four goals during that span, and Lillquist set up Bester for the goal that capped the rally with 56 seconds remaining in the half.

Smith upped the lead to 12-7 early in the second half, with Bracken and Pasini getting the goals, but MIT pulled back, getting three straight goals from Katie Kauffman and two more from Nealon that trimmed the gap to 12-10. 

The Pioneers restored their advantage with a goal from Fileti just under the 20:00 mark, and two goals from Lillquist and another from Estes gave Smith a 17-11 lead.

The Engineers did make it close, scoring the final four goals of the game, but Smith held on, thanks to Alina Pechacek (Andover, Mass./Phillips Academy), who stuffed McShane and Nealon from close range.  Pechacek finished with 10 saves for Smith, while Sarah Ritter also made 10 saves for MIT.

Smith will be back in action on Tuesday, hosting Westfield State on March 27 at 4:30 p.m.  MIT will head to California for a trio of games, starting with a game at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 10 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Pacific time.