October 7, 2006
For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Smith Field Hockey Upsets Wellesley 5-3

Northampton, MA:  The Pioneers of Smith College upset Wellesley College 5-3 this morning in Northampton. The win was the first time Smith has defeated Wellesley since 1998.

             The “Blue” entered today’s contest tied with Springfield and Wheaton in first place in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) standings as they were undefeated in conference competition while Smith was in eighth place with a conference record of 0-3.

            The Pioneers didn’t waste any time getting on the board as they took an early 2-0 lead into halftime behind the scoring of Grace Wittenberg (Fox Point, WI) and Rebecca Capute (Easton, MD).  Capute assisted Wittenberg’s goal seven minutes into the first half and followed with her own goal ten minutes later.

            The second half was a scoring frenzy with Smith taking a 3-0 lead with 32:34 remaining on a goal by Alex Janos (Hillsborough, NJ) assisted by Wittenberg.  Wellesley answered with its first goal one minute later as Jenn Shrull (Windham, NH) found Julia Parzych (Auburn, MA) who drilled the net.  The Pioneers tallied the game winner at the 26:57 mark as Wittenberg scored her second goal of the game assisted by Janos. The “Blues” offense responded with 15:43 remaining on a goal by Beth Kelley (Lynnfield, MA) and again at 0:45 when Callie Lekas (Brewster, MA) scored but it wasn’t enough to close the gap as senior tri-captain Linnea Michaels (Huntington Station, NY) scored the insurance goal for Smith with two minutes remaining.  With the win, Smith improves to 1-3 in NEWMAC competition and 4-7 overall while Wellesley drops to 2-1 in the NEWMAC and 8-3 overall.

                                             1          2          F
Smith (4-7, 1-3)                       2          3          5
Wellesley (8-3, 2-1)                 0          3          3

Scoring: First Half:
S – Grace Wittenberg (Rebecca Capute) 27:51
S – Rebecca Capute (unassisted) 17:58
Second Half:
S - Alex Janos (Wittenberg) 32:34
W – Julia Parzych (Jenn Shrull) 31:42
S – Wittenberg (Janos) 26:57
W – Beth Kelley (Parzych) 15:43
S – Linnea Michaels (Catherine Campbell) 1:55
W – Callie Leksa (unassisted) 0:45

 Keepers:  S – Margaret Winter (70 minutes), 3 GA, 11 saves
               W – Emily Hewitt (70 minuts), 5 GA, 5 saves

 SOG: S – 12; W – 34
Corners:  S – 11; W - 18