Fast Start Spurs Blue Lacrosse to 19-10 Victory Over Smith

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Wellesley College lacrosse earned its first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating host Smith College, 19-10, amid windy conditions at Smith's Turf Field. Wellesley moves to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in conference games with the victory. Smith drops to 3-8 overall and 0-3 in the NEWMAC. 

Senior Claire Canty (East Rockaway, N.Y.) tallied a game-high nine points, scoring seven goals and adding a pair of assists. Canty recorded a game-high nine draw controls for the Blue, who also got three goals each from sophomore Courtney Peterson (Glastonbury, Conn.) and first year Jenny Gubner (Pleasanton, Calif.). 

Nicole DeCanio (Weston, Conn.), Nikki Sharkin (Summit, N.J.) and Chesley Hooker (Cypress, Texas) all scored a pair of goals, while sophomore Mary Lemay (Longmeadow, Mass.) returned to the Blue lineup and delivered a career-high four assist performance. 

For Smith, junior Rachel Silveria (Dunstable, Mass.) finished with a team-high three goals, while first year Caroline Myran (Philadelphia, Pa.) recorded two goals and senior Jenny Estes (Falmouth, Mass.) added two assists.

The Blue stormed out of the gates, scoring eleven goals in the game's opening half to take an 11-5 advantage by halftime. Sharkin got the Blue on the board with a free position goal at 23:20 before setting up Canty for her first at 22:39. Courtney Peterson then scored on either side of Gubner's first goal of the contest as Wellesley extended its advantage to 5-2 with 17:06 left in the first.

Smith scored three of the next four goals in the game, cutting their deficit to 6-4 at 10:23 when Julia Hamilton (Williamstown, Mass.) scored an unassisted marker. 

Wellesley responded with a 5-0 run over the next ten minutes of play, as Canty found the back of the net three more times while DeCanio added her first goal of the game at 1:12 and Gubner delivered on a free position shot with 29 seconds to play in the half. 

Sharkin and Canty got the Blue started again in the second, scoring back-to-back goals to extend the Wellesley advantage to 13-5 with just under 25 minutes to play. From there, the Blue held on to take the 19-10 final as Courtney Peterson completed her hat-trick at 18:04 and Gubner scored her third of the contest with the Blue down a player at 6:05. 

Wellesley lacrosse returns to action on Wednesday afternoon when the Blue will travel to Babson for a NEWMAC game at 4:00 PM. Smith will also continue its NEWMAC schedule when they host MIT on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.