 "Photo: Andrew Morgenthaler/Tufts Daily")
When the field hockey team got its momentum going yesterday afternoon against Gordon College, it never let up. The Jumbos, ranked 10th in the nation for the second straight week, defeated the Fighting Scots 6-0 on Bello Field, outshooting their visiting non-conference foes 40-3 and ending a three-game homestand on a high note. Six different players scored, including three underclassmen off the bench, demonstrating the strength of the entire roster.
The team started off slowly, as Gordon kept the ball on Tufts' side of the field for the first 10 minutes, drawing two penalty corners. Within 30 seconds of the Jumbos clearing the ball up the field, junior forward Amanda Russo put Tufts in the lead with a goal, assisted by junior Margi Scholtes. From that point on, the Jumbos had the momentum, outshooting their opponents 18-1 in the first half alone.
"After a while we did a really good job doing small passing patterns and blocking up their free hits," senior tri-captain Brittany Holiday said. "As the game went on, we built on what we were doing and the shots started to come."
The Jumbos' second goal came from junior Michelle Kelly with 4:35 left in the first half, allowing Tufts to enter the second half with a comfortable 2-0 lead. The team came out of the break with even more intensity than it had displayed in the first half, and sophomore Tamara Brown scored in the 43rd minute on a penalty corner off a pass from sophomore Melissa Burke.
"We definitely picked up in the second half," Russo said. "We started doing more two-touch passing, and we played with vision, which is something we've been working on in practice this week."
Tufts poured it on at the end, as a goal from Burke in the 47th minute was followed by two more in the next nine minutes. With only three starters on the field, sophomores Irene Lewnard and Tess Guttadauro netted goals for the Jumbos, both of which were assisted by Russo, who currently leads the team with seven assists. Tufts is averaging a whopping 5.57 goals-per-game through seven contests this season, nearly doubling last season's average of 2.87.
"Our whole team is so strong all throughout," Holiday said. "I think it's great that we're all out there on the field and everyone is working together."
"It just shows the great depth our team has," Russo said.
Given the Jumbos' edge in total shots, the blowout could have been even worse for the Fighting Scots. Gordon senior Chyanne Wilson, however, saved 20 of the Jumbos' 40 shots fired at the net.
"She's been injured for the last three weeks, and this is her first game back," Gordon coach Cory Ward said. "She moves well and she sees the ball well."
The Jumbos were quick to adjust.
"We knew we had to look up more and see where she was," Russo said. "We had to use our other forwards off the ball so that we had more scoring options."
The Jumbos will next face Amherst and nationally ranked No. 2 Middlebury away on consecutive weekends, which could either make or break their season.
Like Tufts, Middlebury is undefeated thus far, and a win against the Panthers would almost certainly boost Tufts' national standing. The matchup against Amherst (2-2 NESCAC, 3-3 overall) should not be overlooked, however, as the Jumbos lost 2-1 to the Jeffs last season.
"We're thinking about Amherst first, taking one game at a time," Holiday said. "Basically we're going to be doing the things we've always been doing, working on passing patterns up the field, really working on our corners. We're expecting a really hard game."
"It will be exciting to show other teams that are also doing well, are undefeated, that we can beat them also," Russo said.
After finishing a stretch of six home games out of seven, the Jumbos head to Amherst on Saturday for the first of five away games in their next seven, which will round out the regular season.
And after yesterday's statement win over Gordon, they appear ready.
"Tufts gets better every year with great recruits, and they're ready to go," Ward said. "This is a team that's going to win the NESCAC this year."
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