Polar Bears claw through holes in Jumbos defense

Brunswick, ME _ The field hockey team fell to the powerful Bowdoin Polar Bears Saturday, 3-0, on the turf of Ryan Field in Brunswick, Maine. The game marked the fourth straight loss for the struggling Jumbos and evened their NESCAC record at 2-2.

Outshot 11 to two for the contest, the team was often caught back deep in its own defensive zone. The squad showed a lack of offense throughout the game, failing to score a goal for the fourth straight match.

"You need to score some goals in field hockey to win games," coach Carol Rappoli said. "We're the worst team in the league offensively, at least as far as scoring goals."

The Jumbos came out flat both on offense and defense from the beginning of the first half. Bowdoin senior Leah McClure scored five minutes into the match on a centering pass from sophomore Colleen McDonald. Another Polar Bear goal came with eight minutes remaining in the half by senior captain Jackie Templeton on a pass by junior Amanda Burrage. Tufts relinquished both goals by failing to clear the zone and neglecting to play tightly in front of the net.

"I thought we played very poorly in the first half defensively," Rappoli said.

Tufts made some adjustments during the half time intermission, however, which elevated its defensive performance for the remaining 35 minutes.

"We reevaluated and made some changes," senior tri-captain Laura Hacker said. "The players who were on the field talked with the rest of the team and we really stepped it up in the second half."

The defensive alterations made during the break worked for the next 31 minutes. Then with four minutes left in the game, Bowdoin sophomore Marissa O'Neill ruined Tufts' aspiration of a scoreless second frame when she netted the Polar Bears' third score of the day.

The team "was much more intense in the second half, especially defensively," Rappoli said.

Despite the rejuvenated effort on their own side of the field, the Jumbos still could not put together effective offensive combinations in the Bowdoin zone. The Polar Bear goal keeper was only forced to make two saves and Tufts rarely put the ball inside the circle.

Part of the squad's toils on Saturday stemmed from Ryan Field's artificial turf. Playing on turf is a lot different from playing on grass, as the turf is much faster and the ball bounces more on it. Tufts attempted to tweak its playing style for success on turf by practicing on the harder surface in the Gantcher center last week.

Unfortunately for the Jumbos, "one week does not make a turf team," Rappoli said.

The team will have another five days of practice to work on its turf strategy in preparation for next Saturday's NESCAC match at Trinity College. Both offense and defense will be stressed in the Gantcher center this week, as the team will try to end its scoring drought and lack of early defensive aggression.

Tufts is currently ranked sixth in the NESCAC with a 2-2 league record and 2-6 overall record on the season. The Polar Bears jumped to 7-1 on the year with their win on Saturday.

Now, midway through the season, the Jumbos will play five of their last six games against NESCAC opponents. The matches will be important if the Jumbos hope to qualify for the playoffs. The approaching game against Trinity will be an opportunity for Tufts to redeem itself on turf and turn the tide of the season.

"We've been making things hard for ourselves... if we can't get up for another game on turf, I don't know what can fire us up," Rappoli said.