POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (Sept. 4, 2021) – It had been over 950,000 minutes since the Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team played in a competitive collegiate game. It took first-year Emily Smart under 60 minutes to make her impact once it returned as she scored the game-tying goal with just :20 seconds left in regulation and hit the game-winner in overtime to give the Ducks a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over Marywood University Saturday in the Betty Richey Tournament on the campus of Vassar College.

Making her career debut, Smart netted the first goal with Stevens trailing 2-1 off a corner thanks to a beautiful pass in front of the cage by fifth-year Brynn Froehlich. Then in OT, Smart again hooked up with a veteran, this time Natalie Logan, to find the back of the net once again to give the Ducks the thrilling opening day win.

On her first tally of the day, Smart was able to get in behind the defense and wait for the perfect pass to score her first collegiate goal. When Froehlich fired a pass in from the left side of the net, the first-year wasted no time and was able to pop the ball over the leg of the goalkeeper to tie things up at two.

Then, just six minutes into the overtime period in a golden goal situation, Smart and Logan participated in a perfect give-and-go that saw the goalkeeper come too far off her line to attempt to block a potential shot from Logan. The junior from Poway, Calif., made the right choice, however, dumping the ball off to Smart at the last minute who then buried the shot past another defender to seal the victory.

It is the second straight season the Ducks have grabbed their first victory of the year against the Pacers as Stevens also defeated Marywood 2-1 in September of 2019 for their first win.

The Pacers started the game off with a bang, scoring a goal less than two minutes into the contest when Angie Genter weaved through the defense and scored an unassisted goal to put Marywood up 1-0.

It was another first-year scorer, veteran assister situation for Stevens to tie things up in the second quarter as Lauren Jones collected a pass from senior Alyssa Appleby and was able to finish for her first collegiate goal. Jones got the ball in the middle of the circle and was able to take her defender for a literal spin and score.

In the third quarter with the score still tied at one, the Pacers again turned to Genter who delivered once again, this time off an assist from Milana Straub in the 38th minute to go ahead 2-1.

It looked as if two goals might be enough to seal the win but that was not the case as Smart used her magic to give the Ducks a well-earned game one victory.

Inside the Numbers

• The Ducks held a 16-12 advantage in shots but trailed in shots on goal with six compared to nine for Marywood.
• Senior Emily Franco made seven saves in goal, a number she bested just three times in 2019.
• Stevens also held an 8-4 edge in corners, the most important of which resulted in the game-tying score from Smart.
• It was the first multi-goal game in a season opener since Victoria Alvarez put two in the back of the cage in 2016.
• Makenna Quigley, Jones and Smart all made their collegiate debuts in the contest.
• Stevens returned to the field for the first time in 669 days after advancing to the MAC Freedom Tournament as the #3 seed in 2019.

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Meredith Spencer-Blaetz)

• "I'm happy with the outcome today, but we still have a lot of work to do. We did a good job of executing some passing patterns and capitalizing in the circle, but we will need to work towards putting together a full 60 minutes. It's great to see a couple of student-athletes get their first collegiate points as well. We will re-focus now on tomorrow's matchup."

Next Up

• The matchup coach Spencer-Blaetz is referring to is against No. 18 Vassar at 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
• By virtue of both team's wins against Marywood, the winner will be selected as the Betty Richey Tournament champion.
• The Brewers defeated the Ducks the last time the two teams played 3-0 on August 30, 2019 in the lone matchup between these two teams.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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