Box Score NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--The Smith College field hockey team twice rallied from two goal deficits, but it was not enough as visiting Springfield College beat the Pioneers 7-3 in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game on Saturday afternoon.
Smith falls to 3-4 overall, with an 0-2 record against NEWMAC foes, while Springfield ups their record to 4-3, with a 2-0 reord in NEWMAC play.
All but one of the 10 goals came after halftime, and the only one that did not came courtesy of Springfield's Kelly Gallo, who was quickest to the ball in front of the Smith cage to open the scoring at the 18:15 mark.
Gill added a second right after halftime, when a loose ball kicked out to her at the top of the circle, and she blasted home.
The Pioneers would respond almost immediately. Three minutes after Springfield's second goal, Smith was awarded a penalty stroke, which
Sophie Demuynck (Mt. Holly, N.J./Moorestown Friends) converted to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Gill made it a hat-trick just over a minute later with an unassisted goal, but Smith would pull back another. Following
Grace Maliska (Winchendon, Mass./Murdock)'s penalty corner, passes from
Allie Stein (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and
Jenny Estes (Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) set up
Alexa DeJesus (Somerset, Mass./Somerset) for her fifth goal of the year.
Springfield responded with another goal just over a minute later, this time from Kelly Gallo, and goals from Sarah Ducharme, Meg McHugh, and Gill's fourth of the gamel increased the Pride's advantage to 7-2.
Smith were awarded a corner with no time remaining, from which Stein fired in to make the score 7-3.
Savannah Lawson (Oak Bluffs, Mass./Martha's Vineyard) made 15 saves for Smith, while Timarie Villa made six in the Springfield cage.
Smith will next be in action on September 26, playing at Simmons College. Springfield will also play in September 26, at Williams College.