For Immediate Release
October 27, 2007
Wellesley Sports Information
Contact: Lauren Ferrett
Wellesley Field Hockey Advances to NEWMAC Semi-Finals With Win Over Smith
Box Score
WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Wellesley College field hockey team used a balanced scoring attack to down Smith College 5-0 in the first round of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) playoffs. The win advances the second-seeded Blue to the semi-finals to face Wheaton College on Saturday, November 3rd at Babson College.
In the first five minutes of action, the Blue came out aggressive, launching six shots while being awarded four penalty corners. However, Smith keeper Margaret Winter (Purchase, NY) kept the Pioneers in the game by stopping all four shots to end the current Wellesley threat.
The Blue kept the pressure on and in the 15th minute, Sally Scudder (Delafield, WI) scored off of a pass from Callie Lekas (Brewster, MA) in a scramble in front of the net. The goal, Scudder’s third of the season, gave Wellesley a 1-0 lead with 19 minutes to play in the half.
Just over seven minutes later, Wellesley’s Catherine Marchetta (Princeton, NJ) scored on an assist from Scudder to push the Blue lead to 2-0. With the 2-0 advantage, Wellesley continued to dominate the first half of play taking 20 shots to Smith’s three. In goal for the Pioneers, Winters came up big with 10 first half saves to keep the game within reach for Smith.
Wellesley needed just six minutes in the second half to push the lead to 3-0 when Katie Frett (Hallowell, ME) notched her sixth goal of the season, unassisted. The Blue tacked on two more goals in the second half to take a 5-0 lead. Frett scored once more, this time on an assist from Madeline Block (Saratoga, CA) and later, Kate Cushing (Danvers, MA) got in on the action scoring from a Scudder pass.
Smith had several opportunities to score in the second half, but Wellesley goalie Emily Hewitt (Alexandria, VA) stood firm in the net and preserved the 5-0 shut-out, her 10th of the season.
For Smith, Winters finished with an impressive 20 saves in the season-finale for the team. The loss ends Smith’s season with a 3-13 overall record.
With the win, Wellesley (12-5, 6-2 NEWMAC) advances to the semi-finals of the NEWMAC Tournament which will be held at Babson College. The Blue will battle third seed, Wheaton College, in a rematch of Wellesley’s 2-0 win in the regular season.