MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Junior midfielder Neva Richardson (Rehoboth Beach, Del./St. Andrew's School) scored 19 minutes into the contest which turned out to be the only goal as Smith College knocked off Montclair State 1-0 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship at Sprague Field on Wednesday evening. The Pioneers have now won six straight and are making their second appearance in the second round. Montclair State, making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and eighth overall finished the season at 15-4.

The Red Hawks outshot the Pioneers 14-2 with one of those two Smith shots coming three minutes into game. Senior Alex Larosee (Warwick, R.I./The Wheeler School) fired a shot off a penalty corner that was stopped by the Red Hawks' Nicole Andriani. Montclair got the next three chances however an Amber Haslett shot at the five-minute mark went wide with another going off the mark in the 14^th minute. A follow-up by Kellie Vizzuso was stopped by Smith first-year Channy Cornell (Arlington, Tex./The Oakridge School) keeping the game scoreless.

Smith would get its other shot at 18:12 and it turned out to be the most important of the game. Larosee flipped a pass from the right side to the middle of the circle. Richardson corralled the pass before firing a reverse shot inside the right post for a 1-0 lead. It was Richardson's third goal of the season.

The rest of the shots in the half then belonged to MSU. The Pioneers blocked two with Cornell making a save at 26:57 against Elizabeth Cimilluca. Cornell came up with three more in the final nine minutes including a stop versus Vizzuso with exactly a minute remaining before halftime.

The solid defensive effort by Smith continue in the second half as all four attempts by the Red Hawks came up empty. Cimilluca's attempt was blocked by a defender early in the period before Cornell came up with back-to-back stops against Haslett and Victorie Rossi with 23 minutes left. Cornell made one final stop with 7:56 left as the Pioneers killed off a penalty corner with three minutes to play.

NOTABLE

• First-year goalkeeper Channy Cornell (Arlington, Tex./The Oakridge School) stopped eight shots for Smith and registers her fourth shutout of the season. 
• The Red Hawks took seven of the nine penalty corners in the contest.
• Smith's last appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament came during the 1983 season.
• The Pioneers' 15 wins is the most since the 1993 season when they finished 16-2.

UP NEXT
The Pioneers now advance to the second round on Saturday, November 10 and will face No. 4 Tufts at Salisbury University in Maryland at 2:00 p.m.

About Smith Athletics: Smith College is an NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.