NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - Fueled by a steady barrage of offense, Smith defeated Wellesley College lacrosse 16-5 to open New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) competition on Saturday.

Senior Reese Gittelman (Ocean City, Md.) scored a hat-trick with two assists and four ground balls for the Pioneers (4-3 Overall, 1-0 NEWMAC) while first year Caroline Sanders (Trabuco, Calif.) added another hat-trick. First year goalie Brooke Testa (Pittstown, N.J.) saved seven shots for Smith.

The Blue (2-3 Overall, 0-1 NEWMAC) were led by a pair of goals and an assist from junior Willa McGough (Plainfield, N.H.) and two goals from sophomore Ryan Boone (Scotch Plains, N.J.). Sophomore Julia Sharma (Lake Mary, Fla.) paced the defense with four ground balls and two caused turnovers while senior goalie Hannah Pangborn (Raleigh, N.C.) stopped nine shots in net.

Wellesley took an early 2-1 lead when McGough and first year Finley Tipton (Coppell, Texas) both connected on shots. McGough and classmate Gabrielle Shell (Upper Arlington, Ohio) assisted on the goals.

Smith scored the next four goals of the game with a pair coming from Sanders. Sisters Gia and Jennie Arancio (Smithtown, N.Y.) each added a goal while junior Bella DeAngelo (Portsmouth, R.I.) and senior Sydney Havlick (Murrieta, Calif.) both recorded assists.

Another Blue goal from McGough cut Smith's lead to 5-3 before Gittelman fired a pair of goals for the Pioneers. DeAngelo scored once more to make it 8-3 Smith going into halftime.

The Pioneers added a couple goals which came from junior Tatum Galuski (Ipswich, Mass.) and J. Arancio early in the third on free position shots. Boone stopped the momentum with a free position goal for Wellesley before Gittleman scored a third goal of the game assisted by Galuski as Smith led 11-4 after three.

Sophomore Sadie Tschider (Piedmont, Calif.) tacked on two goals for Smith early in the fourth as the Pioneers finished off a 16-5 victory.

Smith scooped up 30 ground balls to Wellesley's 18 while the Pioneers outshot the Blue 32-15. Smith was able to capitalize on free positions, scoring on four of seven chances.

The Blue return home Wednesday to host Bridgewater State at 6:00 PM while the Pioneers travel to Union on Wednesday and also play at 6:00 PM.