The field hockey team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling 7-1 to the nationally ranked Middlebury Panthers' relentless assault on the Tufts defense. Middlebury's fast-tempo style of play kept the Jumbos off-balance and halted the team's momentum after opening its season with two wins.
Last season, Middlebury came away from Medford with a narrow 2-1 overtime victory that came down to the final seconds. This time, a Panthers squad ranked tenth nationally defended their own home turf and dealt the Jumbos their first setback of the season in convincing fashion.
The loss brings Tufts to 2-1 overall, and 1-1 against NESCAC opponents, while Middlebury upped its record to 3-0, 2-0 in conference play.
The Panthers scored early and often, netting two goals in just over eight minutes, and stunning a Jumbo defense that had shut out its two previous opponents. Another tally at 26:56 brought the halftime lead to three and sent the Tufts squad back onto the field in the second half with instructions to focus on the basics of the game.
"We needed to get back to the fundamentals, to what we'd been doing so well [in previous games]," coach Tina McDavitt said.
While the Jumbos were able to get on the scoreboard with a goal by senior tri-captain Dana Panzer in the second half, they were overpowered by a Middlebury offense which has netted 15 goals in just three games. The team also seemed thrown by an unusual setup from the Panthers, who kept two offensive players in front of the Tufts cage and spread their players wide.
"I'd never seen a setup like that before," McDavitt said. "Something like that messes up your system, and you have to adjust to deal with that. We didn't today."
The strange lineup was evident to the players on the field as well.
"They spread the field really wide, and we had trouble marking them," junior tri-captain Jeanne Grabowski said.
The Tufts front line was held scoreless for over 52 minutes, a frustrating dry run coming on the heels of Wednesday's victory over Wellesley, in which the Jumbos found the back of the cage three times in the first half alone. Panzer's goal, off an assist from senior Jayme Heller, kept the game from being a shutout, but failed to rally the Jumbos. The goal was Panzer's second, bringing her points total to six on the season.
The Jumbos' defense, which has allowed only 12 shots in its previous two games, was
hammered by 19 shots from the Panthers' front line. Sophomore goalkeepers Angela Rappoli and Marilyn Duffy-Cabana shared time in the cage, combining for 11 saves.
Middlebury was led by junior Janie Mackey and sophomore Claire Edelen, who both netted two shots to contribute to the team's impressive offensive performance. On the defensive end, sophomore goalkeeper Megan McGillen produced two saves for the Panthers.
The playing surface may also have factored into the loss. The artificial turf at Tufts' new Bello Field aided the Jumbos in their first two wins against Colby and Wellesley, both of whom play home games on grass and were unfamiliar with the faster pace of a turf game.
Middlebury's Kohn Field, however, is Astroturf, and the Panthers have more experience and skill on artificial surfaces to outplay the Jumbos, who are still learning the ropes of a quicker paced game.
"I think we're still making the transition from a grass team to a turf team," McDavitt said.
Overall it was a disappointing day for the Jumbos, with the optimism from their successful beginning slightly dampened.
"It was a big breakdown, both offensively and defensively," Grabowski said. "We didn't expect it to go how it did. Middlebury just played a great game."
McDavitt echoed these sentiments.
"I'd been impressed with our level of play so far, and I had hoped to give them a better game," she said. "But Middlebury was the better team today."
McDavitt and the Jumbos are eager to learn what they can from Saturday's game and move on, looking ahead to Tuesday's home game against non-league opponent Gordon. The two teams have split their last two meetings, with the Fighting Scots coming out on top last year, 3-1.<$>
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