WORCESTER -- Lauren Meinhold (Boxboro, MA) registered two goals and Leah Uglevich (Maynard, MA) added a goal and doled out an assist to as the WPI field hockey team wrapped up the regular season with a 4-1 triumph over visiting Smith on windy Saturday afternoon on H. Carr Field.
 
The Engineers enter the postseason with a 13-4 record, the most wins since 2018 and an 8-1 mark in conference play.  WPI will be the second seed in next week's NEWMAC Tournament for the first time in program history and will face the winner of third-seeded MIT and sixth-seeded Wellesley in a semifinal contest on Thursday afternoon.
 
Smith, which could have qualified for the NEWMAC Tournament with either a victory or a different combination of results on Saturday, sees its season come to an end with a 8-10 overall mark and a 3-6 record in conference play.
 
Four of Saturday's five goals were scored in the opening quarter.  Meinhold got the scoring frenzy started just 3:12 into the contest when she buried a feed from Eve Martineau (Greene, ME) to get the Crimson and Gray on the board.   Less than four minutes later, the lead ballooned to 2-0 as Arie Lang (West Hartford, CT) collected her own rebound and then dished a pass to Uglevich for the senior's eighth goal of 2025.
 
The final minute of the opening quarter was frantic with WPI adding to its advantage when Uglevich setup Abbey Powers (Halifax, MA), who chipped it above the Smith netminder for her 28th career marker at 14:05.  The Bears did not go quietly, denting the scoring column with nine seconds remaining in the stanza, off a corner.  Callahan Day's (Shady Side, MD) insertion was drilled home by Anouk Bosket (Jordanstown, Northern Ireland) for her fourth goal of the season.
 
It looked like the rest of the game was going to be high-scoring when Meinhold dribbled in and potted her second goal of the game, team-leading 10th of the season and 27th of her career just 6:38 into the second quarter but the two defense's stiffened from that point forward and neither team was able to penetrate the goal afterwards.
 
Both teams saw their starting goalkeepers go the first three quarters.  WPI's Myles Lakin (Reading, MA) played the first three quarters and earned the victory before giving way to Nina Van Ekelenburg (Abington, PA) for the final frame.  Iseul Park (Ann Arbor, MI) notched six saves over the first 45 minutes for Smith while Aiden Arrington (Philadelphia, PA) totaled three in the fourth quarter.    The Bears were aided by a defensive save by Ellie Szostalo (Gorham, ME)
 
For the game, the Engineers held a decisive 22-7 advantage in shots and a 4-2 edge in penalty corners.