With 1:49 remaining and the score deadlocked 1-1 in the field hockey team's duel with The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), senior tri-captain Brittany Holiday had the chance to either prolong her collegiate career or watch it inch perilously close to its end.
Just moments earlier, referees had whistled a TCNJ defender for an intentional foul inside the circle on junior forward Michelle Kelly and awarded Tufts the rarest and most fortunate of opportunities: a penalty stroke. Coach Tina McDavitt then turned to Holiday, who was a perfect 5 for 5 in her career on stroke chances entering the game, to seal the Jumbos' victory.
With the flick of her stick, Holiday delivered. As the ball sailed into the upper-left corner of the cage, the nationally ranked No. 4 Jumbos scored a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over No. 5 TCNJ in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament yesterday afternoon on Bello Field. The win advances Tufts to this weekend's Final Four for the first time in program history.
"I just tried to keep it simple," said Holiday, who on Wednesday earned All-NESCAC honors for the second straight season. "I didn't really try to think about anything except staying focused and doing it just like I do in practice."
"She usually goes to the same spot, and I think the goalies started figuring her out, so she started going higher, even just this past week or so, in practice," McDavitt said. "She's just so calm and she's so poised, and she just knows where she's going … It was quite fitting for her to have the game-winning goal."
The stage for Holiday's heroics was set up roughly 25 minutes earlier, when sophomore defender Amanda Roberts erased a 1-0 Lions lead with a blast into the lower left corner of the cage. The goal was the All-NESCAC defender's first of her collegiate career.
"I wasn't really thinking about anything except 'Maybe this is my shot,'" Roberts said. "Everyone decided today that if this was going to be our last game, then everything had to go out on the field and that we had to take advantage of every opportunity that was presented to us. Everyone just finished everything they started today, and now we're going on to the Final Four."
TCNJ put Tufts in an early hole just 4:41 into the game, when Lions sophomore forward Leigh Mitchell picked up a Tufts turnover, got herself near the cage and delivered a near-perfect crossing pass to senior forward Jenny Lubin, who beat freshman goalkeeper Marianna Zak to put TCNJ up 1-0.
The Lions had several chances to pad their lead, most notably during a four-minute stretch beginning 12:55 into the first half that saw TCNJ draw seven penalty corners. But Zak stonewalled the Lions' attack, making four critical saves during the stretch -- part of an afternoon when she made a career-high 10 saves -- to keep the Jumbos well-within striking distance. The first-year keeper was tested all game, as TCNJ outshot Tufts 21-11 and drew six more penalty-corner chances.
The Jumbos now move on to a Final Four showdown Saturday at 11 a.m. against nationally ranked No. 1 Messiah, who yesterday punched its ticket to college field hockey's biggest stage with a 2-1 double-overtime triumph over No. 11 Rowan. For Tufts' seniors, who just three years ago were part of a squad that went 8-7, the achievement represents the latest step for a program that has made its presence on the national scene increasingly palpable.
"It's just been so awesome to be a part of how much this program has grown," senior tri-captain Tess Jasinski said. "Coming in as a freshman, I would have never expected us to be here, but every year, we've been able to make small steps forward. Last year, making it to the NCAA Tournament gave us great experience. I think the difference this year is that we expect to be here, and we've just been able to come so far as a team."
Considering the résumés of the other three semifinalists, Tufts figures to be a sizable underdog this weekend. In addition to Messiah, which will be making its 12th Final Four appearance all time, defending national champion Bowdoin and 2006 champion Ursinus will also take the field. But the Jumbos remain resolute and believe they are ready to compete with some of the nation's true heavyweights.
"We are a team that takes it one game at a time, but I think we have put a little bit more emphasis on the fact that this is NCAA Tournament," McDavitt said. "Our goal is to get to the Final Four and our goal is to win. We're looking at it like we're halfway done. We've won two out of the four, and I think it's a realistic goal for us to win the whole thing. If we come out and play especially like we did in the second half today and just really battle, I think we can do it."
