SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Smith College dampened Senior Night for the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team Saturday, as the visiting Pioneers took a 4-2 NEWMAC victory on the MHC Turf behind two goals from Callahan Day.
The game was evenly played and marked by spirited intensity on both sides, and a fast, up-and-down pace from start to finish.
After 21 scoreless minutes, Smith (3-9, 2-3 NEWMAC) scored first, as Day tracked a loose ball bouncing toward the Lyons cage and slotted it past senior Rachel Katzenberg (Reisterstown, Md.).
The Lyons (7-7, 0-5 NEWMAC) evened the game three minutes later when senior Sophia Guziewicz (Claremont, N.H.) was awarded the first penalty stroke of the night, and she buried it past Smith goalie Emma Newman for her team-high and career-high 10th goal of the season.
But Smith grabbed a 3-1 lead with back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart in the third quarter. Elena Korinek converted a penalty stroke for her first goal of the year with 9:37 left. With 7:45 to go, Day scored her second goal of the game and fourth of the season, using an inside pass from Korinek, on a play that started with an entry pass from Ellie Szostalo to Korinek.
Mount Holyoke closed within a goal with 1:50 left in the third quarter, as sophomore Scout Climie (Guilford, Conn.) found an alley through the Smith defense with an outside shot fed by sophomore Linnea Alsted (Crownsville, Md.) on a penalty corner, Climie's fifth goal of the year.
But the Pioneers regained a two-goal advantage with 7:53 to go in the fourth quarter, when Szostalo tracked down a clear by Guziewicz, carried into the circle and sent a bouncer inside the far post.
Newman made four saves and Kyleigh Poot added a defensive save for Smith, while Katzenberg made seven saves for Mount Holyoke.
The Lyons honored six seniors and their families and guests prior to the game, in Guziewicz, Katzenberg, Jayonna Montigny (Enfield, Conn.), manager Christi Pugh, Glenna Ricard (Windsor, Vt.), and Gracie Wilkinson (Amherst, Mass.).
Mount Holyoke next plays at Salve Regina, Saturday Oct. 19 at 12pm.
