Wellesley Soccer Falls at Smith in NEWMAC Opener, 1-0

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- Wellesley College soccer dropped their first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game of season on Saturday, falling 1-0 on the road to Seven Sisters rival Smith College. Wellesley is now 3-3-0 on the season and 0-1-0 in the NEWMAC. Smith improves to 5-2-0 and 1-0-0 in conference play.

Smith outshot Wellesley 7-1 in the opening half but failed to break through until the later stages of the contest as Wellesley junior goalkeeper Olivia Reckley (Grosse Ile, Mich.) made three saves before the break to preserve the 0-0 scoreline. Wellesley's only chance in the first half came in the 32nd minute, when junior Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) took a shot from just inside the penalty area but found only Smith first year goalkeeper Naomi Falkenberg (Sutton, Mass.) on the other end.

The Pioneers jumped ahead in the second half, as sophomore Etienne Oliver (Sandy, Ore.) scored her first goal of the season in the 64th minute to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Wellesley had four more shots in the second half but could not find the equalizer, as Smith picked-up the 1-0 victory over the Blue for the second straight season.

Smith held a 16-5 advantage in shots, as well as a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks. Reckley (3-3-0) made five saves in the contest, while Falkenberg recorded two saves in the shutout to improve to 5-2 on the year.

Wellesley returns home to host Roger Williams in a non-conference match-up on Tuesday at 4:00 PM. Smith will play again tomorrow at home against Amherst at 2:00 PM.