NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - Senior Chloe Harris (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) scored the go ahead goal with 1:55 remaining in regulation to give the Smith College lacrosse team a 13-12 season-opening win Thursday afternoon in non-conference action. The Pioneers begin the season 1-0, while WNEU drops to 0-2.

SMITH HIGHLIGHTS

• Harris netted a game-high six goals to go along with three ground balls and two   turnovers.
• Sophomore Shannonn McGinnis tallied two goals four ground balls, and three draw controls.
• First-year goalkeeper Alyssa Schams (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) made eight saves in net.

WNEU HIGHLIGHTS

• Kristen Breen registered a hat trick in the  loss.
• Eileen Ruby and Samantha Vitka each contributed two goals
• In goal, Kaitlyn Marchant made 10 stops in the defeat.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Smith's Harris opened the scoring at the 29:37 mark and then tacked on one more goal in a span of 6:15. Kristen Breen put Western New England on the board with 22:26 on a pass from Hannah Jarvis before Emily Biggs (Florence, Mass./Northampton) gave the Pioneers a 3-1 lead with 21:26 left in the first half. Samantha Vitka ignited a 3-0 run from the Golden Bears, moving the score to 5-4 in favor of the visitors with 16:36 remaining. Following some back-and-forth play, Kaitlyn Hutter buried a goal with 11 seconds left in the opening period to make it 7-7 at halftime.

The teams would again exchange goals to open the second before a 3-0 spurt by the Golden Bears made it 11-9 at the 17:51 mark. Smith responded over the next 14:06 with a 3-0 run of their own to regain the lead, 12-11, with just 3:45 remaining in regulation.

Ruby tied the game, 12-12, on an unassisted tally with 3:12 on the clock but Harris came up big for the Pioneers and netted the game-winner with just under two minutes left. The Golden Bears won the ensuing draw control but the Smith defense came up big in the final minutes to secure the win.
 

GAME NOTES
• Western New England held a 7-5 edge in draw controls in the second half after losing 7-of-15 draws over the opening 30 minutes.
• The Pioneers outshot the Golden Bears 35-23 while the visitors held a 28-26 advantage in ground balls.
• Smith improves to 4-15 all-time against WNEU and has won the last two meetings.

Up Next
Smith hosts Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday, March 2 at 12:00 p.m.