BOSTON, Mass. -- The visiting Smith College field hockey team scored with no time left in overtime to earn a 1-0 victory over host Simmons University this evening at rain-soaked Daly Field in Brighton, Mass. The Sharks fall to 3-8 on the season, while the Pioneers improve to 6-4.
The Simmons defense held strong right until the very end, despite Smith owning a 24-2 shot advantage. The Sharks kept the Pioneers off the board for the entire 70 minutes of regulation and did not surrender a goal until the game-winner with no time left in the overtime.
Smith's winning strike came after it was awarded a penalty corner as time ticked to zero on the scoreboard. Sophomore midfielder Bryn Murray (Glastonbury, Conn.) inserted the ball to junior back Sammie Pavlov (Royersford, Pa.), who sent a cross inside the circle to senior midfielder Bayleigh Bogan (Encinitas, Calif.), who gave it right back to Pavlov for a shot that found the back of the cage on the right side for her team-leading seventh goal of the season and the win.
The Pioneers took all six shots in the overtime period, while also holding a 14-1 margin on penalty corners for the game.
Despite the shooting disparity, the Simmons defense denied the Smith attack throughout the match with sophomore goalie Lucy McNamara (Brewster, Mass.) recording 10 saves and sophomore back Abby Anderson (South Yarmouth, Mass.) coming up big with a pair of defensive stops, including on a rebound shot from Pioneers junior Anna Ballou (Deerfield, Mass.) with 15 seconds left in the overtime period.
The Sharks looked to score on their only penalty corner of the night when senior midfielder Meghan Fontaine (Westminster, Mass.) fired a shot on cage less than nine minutes into the second half, but Smith first year goalie Channy Cornell (Arlington, Texas) came up with the save. Cornell finished the match with two saves to earn the victory.
Simmons returns to action on Saturday, October 6 when it heads to Providence, R.I. to take on Great Northeast Athletic Conference foe Johnson & Wales University for a 1:00 p.m. match, while the Pioneers travel to Springfield, Mass. to play New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference rival Springfield College for a 6:00 p.m. contest.