Coming off of a momentous 9-0 shutout over the Wellesley Blue on Tuesday, the field hockey team now has its crosshairs set on the NESCAC's Colby Mules. Tufts is looking not only to preserve its undefeated record, but to hopefully record its second consecutive Homecoming victory.
While the unranked Mules sport a record of just 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the NESCAC, the numbers belie a squad that has found relative success against some of the conference's toughest teams. In its season opener, Colby rallied against the nationally-ranked Trinity Bantams, only to lose by a goal in overtime. Though the Mules lost the match, their relentless offensive effort may be a part of their game that Tufts will need to address in Saturday's match.
"They always have a really good team and they've had some close matches this season, despite what their record might say," coach Tina McDavitt said. "They lost to Trinity in overtime, the only other undefeated NESCAC team. Williams is the only other team that has an in-conference undefeated record and Colby played close games against them as well."
Despite the Mules' performance against the other top-ranked NESCAC squads, the Jumbos remain confident that the offensive formula which has brought them success in past games will pay off on Saturday. As of right now, the Tufts squad is among the top three in the league for shots, assists and goals, while junior midfielder Tamara Brown holds the distinction of most shots and points on the year.
"We're going to just keep doing what we're doing," McDavitt said. "Offensively, everything is just clicking … we've also been working on being more selfish with the ball. I joke with the girls that they are being too nice and so we were working on fighting into the circle and getting off good shots … our forwards are doing better with their positioning and getting rebounds. Things are starting to come together for us."
Defensively, Tufts has shut down its opponents, allowing just four goals all season, tying them with Bowdoin for the least number allowed by a NESCAC team this year. However, with Colby junior Heather Quadir leading in goals-per-game among conference matches, as well as the speed of Colby's offense, controlling the pace of the game as they have done in past matches may be a challenge for the Jumbos.
"Colby plays on Astroturf so their game is much faster," McDavitt said. "Colby does a really good job connecting, so all of our players need to be ready to step up and intercept so that Colby doesn't get the best of us on a scoring drive.
"It's a new year and a new team … and we are taking the Colby game very seriously."
