US College Saturday: Smith’s Hat-Trick Powers Wesleyan, Middlebury and CNU Win on Senior Day
Saturday was a Senior Day kind of day across US college field hockey, and a few teams made it count in style. Here’s the roundup that matters.
Wesleyan 6, Amherst 1. No. 12 Wesleyan went to No. 14 Amherst and turned a tough road game into a rout. Emily Smith had a career-first hat-trick and added an assist for seven points, and Wesleyan matched their highest goal total ever against the Mammoths. Amherst actually won the penalty-corner count 8-4 and scored early in the fourth quarter, but Wesleyan’s defence kept turning those corners away. Smith has now put up 13 points in her last two games. Wesleyan move to 9-5 overall and 4-5 in the NESCAC, while Amherst fall to 8-6 and 3-6. Wesleyan close the regular season on Tuesday at Connecticut College.
Middlebury 4, Bates 2. No. 2 Middlebury beat No. 20 Bates on Senior Day in Lewiston, and two converted penalty strokes did the damage. Bates stayed in it through a scoreless third quarter and cut it to 3-2, with Caroline Nowak and Haley Dwight on the scoresheet, but Middlebury answered inside two minutes to kill the comeback. Bates now face a must-win trip to Colby on Tuesday.
Christopher Newport 5, Saint Francis 0. The No. 3 Captains celebrated Senior Day by rolling past Saint Francis at home. Caroline Hughlett posted her third multi-goal game of the season and moved to 92 career points, fifth in programme history. Fellow seniors Lindsey Loar and Kendall Gibson scored too, and Loar’s goal was her 10th career game-winner, tying a programme hall-of-fame mark.
MIT 2, Smith 1. MIT’s winning run is now seven straight. Janie Thomas scored and set up Charlotte Lee’s goal in Northampton, and the Engineers held on for a NEWMAC win that takes them to 11-5 overall and a perfect 8-0 in conference play. Smith drop to 7-10 and 4-4.
Hartwick 3, St. John Fisher 1. Hartwick clinched the No. 2 seed in the Empire 8 tournament and a bye into the semi-finals, which they host on Wednesday 4 November. Senior Katelyn Klotz scored twice and sophomore Lexi Cheeseman opened the scoring. Fisher’s Mary Kate McPhee matched her career high with her 11th goal of the season on her own Senior Day, but Hartwick answered her fourth-quarter goal within 64 seconds. Fisher head into their finale at 7-9 and 4-4 in conference.
Franklin & Marshall 3, Dickinson 2. The comeback of the day. Dickinson led 2-0 inside eight minutes at home, but F&M scored just before half-time and twice more in the third quarter to take a huge step towards the Centennial Conference playoffs. The Diplomats outshot Dickinson 23-7 and won the corner count 16-7, and in the end that pressure told.
Six games, six stories, and the conference races are tightening by the day. Tuesday’s finales and next weekend’s tournaments can’t come fast enough.Related:
https://sportscursor.com/tufts-clinch-nescac-top-seed-division-iii-saturday-clinches-24-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/shippensburg-stun-no-1-kutztown-senior-day-psac-24-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/live/
https://sportscursor.com/rankings/
