NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--The regular season comes to a close, but there is plenty to play for when the Smith College soccer team (7-5-5, 3-2-4 NEWMAC) hosts Wheaton College (12-5-2, 5-2-2 NEWMAC) on Saturday.
The Pioneers will honor their nine seniors before the game: Allie Rooney (Ludlow, Mass./Cathedral), Jordan Houston (Logan, Utah/Logan), Jamie Cyr (Danville, Vt./Danville), Olivia Mallari (Waterford, Conn./Waterford), Isabella McNamara (Logan, Utah/Logan), GiGi Ross (Colt's Neck, N.J./Colt's Neck), Lily Eriksen (Seattle, Wash./Bush School), Annabel Calhoun (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) and Shannon Saywell (Groton, Mass./Lawrence Acad.).
Last Meeting: Emily Smith (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) scored the only goal for the Pioneers in their 2-1 loss to Wheaton on November 1, 2014.
The Series: Wheaton leads 28-18-1, and has won 25 straight between these two.
Fast Facts: Wheaton is coming off a double-overtime, 0-0 draw with Babson Tuesday night, snapping a five-game win streak...The tie currently gives the Lyons the No. 3 spot of the NEWMAC rankings…The Lyons last loss came on October 6 against MIT…Wheaton has eight shutouts this season as their defense allows 0.87 goals per game…Julia Cipriano leads the Lyons with 11 goals, nine assists for 31 points...Smith enters today's game on the back of a 1-1 double-overtime tie to Mount Holyoke...Smith is in good position to grab the final seed in the upcoming NEWMAC tournament (more on that below)…Jordan Isaacs (Weston, Conn./Weston)' five goals, two assists lead the Pioneers offense…Camryn Biasin (Lee, Mass./Berkshire) owns a 0.94 goals against average and .841 save percentage...
Playoff Implications: Smith needs to win or tie to guarantee a NEWMAC playoff berth as the seventh seed. The only way the Pioneers would miss out on the postseason is if Smith lost and Wellesley won on Saturday.
