There were times this season, like when it was cruising past non-conference opponents or winning its conference championship, that the field hockey team seemed invincible. But not even the Jumbos could overcome the series of nightmarish scenarios they encountered over the weekend.
With no fewer than five core members of its team either missing or limited by injury and illness, nationally ranked No. 4 Tufts dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 2 and eventual national champion Salisbury in Final Four action Saturday afternoon in South Hadley, Mass. The loss ended the Jumbos' banner 2009 season with a mark of 18-2.
The trouble began for Tufts on the eve of Saturday's contest when sixth-year head coach Tina McDavitt was hospitalized with a sudden bout of appendicitis. Following an emergency appendectomy that confined McDavitt to a hospital bed, 23-year-old graduate assistant Dani Ryder was left to serve as the team's acting head coach opposite Dawn Chamberlain of Salisbury, a recent inductee to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
"It was a tough spot, and I certainly feel for them and for the coach," said Chamberlain, whose Sea Gulls have now eliminated the Jumbos in NCAA Tournament play twice in the last three years. "It's just a lousy situation to be in: bad timing and just unfortunate."
Down one of their leaders heading into the semifinal showdown, the Jumbos would lose another in the waning minutes of the first half. While defending a Sea Gulls penalty corner, senior co-captain Margi Scholtes, already playing with a broken right thumb, took a rocketed ball off her right pinky, forcing the New England West Region Player of the Year to the sidelines for the remainder of the game. Taking Scholtes' place as the team's center midfielder and virtual quarterback was talented but inexperienced first-year Rachel Gerhardt.
"I've played through a lot of injuries, but I had to come off the field because I couldn't feel my finger," Scholtes said. "I trusted my team to get the job done, but it's very frustrating standing on the sidelines your senior year. I wasn't allowed to come back on the field."
"We still had [Scholtes] on the sideline, and she was coaching Rachel through the whole thing, but when you lose your starting senior center mid — the heart of your team — it's rough to pick it up," Ryder added. "I thought our girls did a really good job of stepping in and we're happy with how they all played, but in a championship game, that void was big."
Scholtes' departure compounded an already dire personnel situation for Tufts: junior and leading scorer Tamara Brown was severely hampered by a right hamstring injury she suffered on Nov. 14, while two senior starters — forward Michelle Kelly and defender Emma Kozumbo — were slowed by bouts of swine flu.
"My hamstring was definitely bothering me," Brown said. "I spent all week trying to be in the best form that I could be in. There was never a question that I was going to play, but obviously, it didn't feel perfect. It definitely affected my game, but I was just trying to do the best I could for the team."
All in all, it was a near-impossible situation for the Jumbos to handle, particularly on college field hockey's biggest stage against a powerhouse Sea Gulls team that ranked among the top-five offensive and defensive squads in the nation.
"We're just really proud of how our girls played," Ryder said. "They had a lot going against them this weekend, and they came out and just gave it their all and left everything on the field. We couldn't be prouder of them."
Despite everything working against them, the Jumbos were still very much in the game throughout; the two teams that posted the lowest goals-against average in the nation this season were, perhaps predictably, mired in a low-scoring, defensive struggle.
After playing to a scoreless first half, Salisbury broke through on a well-executed penalty corner 10:18 into the second. Sophomore forward Alison Bloodsworth tipped in a blast by classmate Tara McGovern for the game's lone tally.
The Sea Gulls' defense, second only to the Jumbos in goals-against average this year, took care of the rest. Especially stifling in its defensive circle, Salisbury limited Tufts to just one second-half penalty corner opportunity and a season-low 10 shots.
"I always like games with as few shots as possible; that's all I could ask for," Salisbury sophomore goalkeeper Anna Cooke said. "My defense definitely stepped up in the game and helped me get the shutout."
The Jumbos had some good chances to get on the board in the first half, but their corner unit, which produced two goals in last weekend's Elite Eight win over Skidmore, was 0-for-5 in the period. Tufts' inability to capitalize on its numbers-up situations was one reason that it was shut out for the first time since the 2008 NESCAC championship game, a 1-0 loss to Bowdoin.
"[The Sea Gulls] were really good, but we had a lot of opportunities," Ryder said. "I think maybe in a different game, at a different point in the season, it could have been a different outcome."
"I think their defense is very strong — one of the strongest we've faced all season — but I don't think it was impenetrable," Brown added.
The loss to Salisbury — the team that went on to beat previously undefeated and national No. 1 Messiah in yesterday's national title game — ended the Jumbos' bid to become the first team in school history to win an NCAA team national championship. Tufts was appearing in the Final Four for the second consecutive season, having dropped a double-overtime heartbreaker to Bowdoin 3-2 in last year's national title game.
But despite their disappointment at once again narrowly missing out on an NCAA crown, the Jumbos are cognizant of how far their program has come in a relatively short period of time. This year's seniors entered the program off an 8-7 2005 season and now leave it following back-to-back berths in the Final Four.
"I think the program has improved tremendously," senior co-captain Amanda Russo said. "It's been great that I've been able to be a part of that, and I look forward to watching it improve even more in the future."
"As a freshman coming in, I never thought about the NCAAs," Scholtes added. "I'm really happy to be leaving with the team where it is. I think they'll be back here next year and show Div. III that Tufts' program is here to stay."
