September 26, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Felicia J. Prater
(305) 205-4236
Soccer Ties Wellesley 1-1
Northampton, MA: In an aggressive and fast paced game, neither the Pioneers of Smith nor the Blue of Wellesley College could muster a shot that would have given their respective teams the lead and win. With the tie, Smith is 1-5-1 on the season and 0-0-1 in the NEWMAC while Wellesley is 1-4-2 overall and 0-0-1 in the conference.
Though Wellesley outshot Smith in the first half, 4-0, Smith played good defense overall and was "solid in goal" with sophomore goalkeeper Lindsey Gregor (Bradenton, FL) making some key saves and keeping Wellesley off the board. It wasn't until the second half that Smith experienced an offensive outburst.
Taking command from the start of the second half, Smith began creating opportunities for themselves when at the 46 minute of play, sophomore Eleanor Theurer (Gainesville, FL) broke in alone and took a hard shot on goal that was unfortunately blocked by a Wellesley defender and reversed back up field. Not to be deterred on her next opportunity three minutes later, Theurer again attacked the goal, but her strong bid was denied by Wellesley's diving goalkeeper, sophomore Sarah Gray (Montclair, VA).
Smith finally got on the board at 55:03 when Theurer recieved the feed from senior Valerie Driscoll (Keene, NH) and took the ball up field untouched for a one on one with Gray, who came out the box to smother Theurer but was too slow to save the shot that was buried into the back left corner of the net. Wellesley finally answered back with the game tying goal nearly five minutes later when sophomore Nikki Fermanis (Scottsdale, AZ) took a pass from sophomore Amanda Young and hit a high shot in the top of the net right over Gregor's fingertips.
Smith had an opportunity to score and give them the lead right before the end of regulation but a shot by Theurer was short off the post. With that, both teams were denied other opportunities to score thus sending the game into double overtime where both teams failed to register a game winning shot.
Coach Gabbert for Smith commented that the "game was a good start to conference play where both teams exuded great effort. I'm so proud of how we played, especially Theurer who did a great job finishing her shots and goal. She was a hand full for Wellesley and made a big difference in our game. It was a great battle for both sides."
The Pioneers return to action on Wednesday when they host local rival Westfield State at 4:30 PM.
1 2 OT OT2 F
Smith (1-5-1, 0-0-1) 0 1 0 0 1
Wellesley (1-4-2, 0-0-1) 0 1 0 0 1
Scoring:
1. 55:03 SMI - Eleanor Theurer (Valerie Driscoll)
2. 74:47 WEL - Nicole Fermanis (Amanda Young)
Keepers: SMI - Lindsey Gregor (110 mins, 1 GA, 8 saves)
WEL - Katie Martoe (45 mins, 0 GA, 1 saves)
Sarah Gray (65 mins, 1 GA, 3 saves)
Shots - Smith 6, WEL 13
Corners - Smith 10, WEL 2
