In an instant, one of the great new rivalries in NESCAC field hockey turned on its head.
Junior forward Christy Bradley's goal 7:59 into overtime gave nationally ranked No. 5 Trinity a 2-1 victory over nationally ranked No. 3 Tufts in a showdown of undefeated conference elites Saturday afternoon at Bello Field. After losing two overtime games to the Jumbos a year ago, the Bantams exacted a measure of revenge, spoiling Senior Day and Parents Weekend festivities at Tufts and taking over sole possession of first place in the NESCAC.
"It's amazing," Trinity coach Anne Parmenter said. "I've never won on this field since they built it [in 2004] … so of course, it's an incredible win for our team.
"[Tufts coach] Tina McDavitt said to me on the sideline, ‘Do we have to do this again in overtime?'" she continued. "It's just crazy. It seems like this really has developed into a rivalry."
Prior to Saturday's setback, Tufts had not lost in the regular season since Oct. 6, 2007, a span of 30 games. The Jumbos had been particularly stingy at home over recent years, yielding no more than one goal in 24 of their previous 25 games at Bello Field. Needless to say, the dramatic conclusion to this weekend's contest left the team in an unfamiliar position.
"It's definitely a different feeling than some of us have ever felt in a while," senior co-captain Margi Scholtes said. "It's been over two years since we lost a regular-season game, so half the team has never experienced this. Not to say that this is a good feeling, but we need to remember how this feels so that we can bounce back and get better."
A Jumbos offense that had put up gargantuan scoring numbers in the month of October was suddenly silenced by a stellar Bantams defensive effort. After recording 24 goals in its previous three games, Tufts managed just a single tally in its lowest scoring output of the season. The first-half goal came courtesy of senior forward Michelle Kelly.
The Jumbos had their chances but were unable to capitalize on a 24-16 edge in shots and a 19-8 advantage in penalty corners.
"I just think we need to be more composed," McDavitt said. "We had plenty of opportunities — 3-on-1s, 2-on-the-goalie — and we just didn't finish. We were almost a little bit frantic, so I think we just need to learn to calm down.
"It's just disappointing because if we get beat, I want to get beat because the other team was better than we were, and that wasn't the case," she continued. "I think we had a lot of opportunities, and we didn't finish when we should have. When you're playing a team that's ranked fifth in the country, you need to play your best."
The Jumbos were stymied on offense by the play of a bend-but-don't-break Bantams defense, anchored by sophomore goalkeeper Gina Dinallo. The reigning NESCAC Player of the Week was a proverbial wall in net, making several sprawling stops in overtime as part of a 15-save afternoon.
"The goalkeeper was absolutely unbelievable," Parmenter said. "She played a key, key role in this game."
Trinity was particularly effective in neutralizing Tufts' potent forward line. After allowing junior Tamara Brown to torch them for three goals in two games last year, the Bantams largely kept the All-American in check, limiting her to just five shots.
"[Senior co-captain] Meghan Ryan did an amazing job man-marking Tamara Brown," Dinallo said. "That was a huge part of it. Not having to worry so much about her just helped the rest of our defense work that much better."
"They definitely knew how to play against us," Scholtes added. "Tamara, Michelle and [junior forward Melissa Burke] were getting double-teamed, and so we just weren't working the ball the best that we could. But they're definitely a really good defensive team, and their goalie was shutting us down."
Kelly gave the Jumbos some early momentum with seven minutes to play in the first half, ripping a blast from the top of the circle past Dinallo for a 1-0 advantage. Tufts carried that lead until Bradley notched the equalizer nine minutes into the second period and set the stage for her overtime heroics.
"Tying it up, it was anybody's game again," Dinallo said. "I don't think anybody thought it was going to be a high-scoring game, so once we tied it up, it was just going to come down to whoever scored next."
Tufts will be forced to regroup quickly, with a non-conference matchup against Gordon set for tomorrow afternoon. The Jumbos' NESCAC fate will be decided over the course of the next two weekends, when they travel to Williams and Bowdoin for critical contests against two of the conference's historically successful programs. Tufts will try to move past Saturday's disappointment in preparation of some stiff competition lying ahead.
"I think we'll take this as a learning experience and maybe a reality check," McDavitt said. "You have to come to play every game, and you have to get down to business when you're out there. I think maybe this will fire us up and propel us into the second half of the year."
