NORTON, MA- Freshman Emily Asack (Stoughton, MA/Stoughton) completed a two-goal game by netting the winner 3:49 into overtime, sending second-seeded Wheaton College past upset-minded number-seven Smith College, 2-1 during the first round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on Saturday at Clark Field. The Lyons improved to 12-6, while the Pioneers ended their season at 7-11.

The Blue and White is now 7-1 all time at home during the league tournament, and it has split four postseason encounters with Smith. By advancing to the semifinals for the third straight season, a first in program history, Wheaton will oppose third-seeded Wellesley College next Saturday at Springfield College in a 1:00 p.m. contest.

Despite controlling the stat sheet for much of the day, Wheaton found itself down less than 13 minutes into the contest and trailed until fewer than 18 minutes remained in regulation. In the first half, the Lyons notched advantages of 9-2 in shots and 9-1 in penalty corners, but Smith broke on the scoreboard at the 12:18 mark when junior Lindsey Nguyen (Brockton, MA/Brockton) tipped home senior Trina Campbell's (San Anselm, CA/San Francisco University) free hit from outside the circle after the ball almost entered the cage untouched.

Three minutes into the second stanza, Smith nearly took a 2-0 lead, but Campbell ripped a shot just outside the right post. Two minutes after that, Wheaton sophomore Margaux Bolte (Belmont, MA/Belmont) dribbled from the top of the circle toward cage but had a point-blank try denied by sophomore keeper Courtney Murphy (Northampton, MA/Northampton).

In the 52nd minute, Wheaton was awarded a penalty corner, during which junior Alex Block (Saratoga, CA/Saratoga) and sophomore Ashley English (Watertown, MA/Watertown) each took shots and were stopped by Murphy, but after a scramble in front, Asack found the back of the net to knot the contest. The Lyons held an 8-3 advantage in shots during the second half, but Murphy posted four of her seven stops in the stanza.

During overtime, Smith ran a pair of penalty corners without firing off a shot, as Wheaton took all four shots. Murphy denied Asack twice on the doorstep, but on the Lyons' second corner of the period, senior Alisa Ardito (Branford, CT/Branford) cut from the left side of the circle and dished to Asack, who slid the ball beyond Murphy and into the right corner.

Junior Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) made two saves for the Lyons, who finished with advantages of 21-5 in shots and 14-4 in corners.