For the women's field hockey team, the second time was the charm. Appearing in the NESCAC championship for the second consecutive year, the Tufts squad's opportunity paid off with a NESCAC crown.
In Sunday's conference tournament final against the top-seeded Trinity Bantams, the second-seeded Tufts squad made program history. While Tufts had appeared in the NESCAC tournament for seven consecutive seasons, the championship was the program's first in its 30-plus years of existence. With the victory, the Jumbos wrapped up their conference play with a 16-1 overall record, marking the second straight year Tufts had the best overall record in the NESCAC.
"It feels amazing, and I think all the games we had this year all led up to this," coach Tina McDavitt said. "After being here before, we have the knowledge to know what it takes to be successful here and get it done."
With similar strengths across the board, both teams were on nothing short of a collision course heading into the midday matchup in Hartford, Conn. Sitting neck-and-neck in the national rankings, with the Jumbos edging out the Bantams by just one place for the fifth position, the Trinity squad hoped to repeat the success it found earlier this season on Bello Field when the Bantams iced the Jumbos in a 2-1 overtime decision.
What is more, the Bantams hoped to turn their first-ever finals appearance into their first-ever championship title. A marked Tufts offensive effort, however, made that goal into a pipe dream.
Exhibiting a no-holds-barred mentality, the Tufts squad got on the board early, with junior midfielder Jess Perkins scoring off a feed from junior midfielder Amanda Roberts just over a minute into play on a corner opportunity. With five corners in the half, the Jumbos' success lay in their ability to capitalize on shot opportunities near the circle.
On another corner play, Perkins took a pass from senior co-captain Margi Scholtes with 2:41 remaining in the first half to make it 2-0, marking the Barrington, R.I. native's fourth goal of the season. As if the insurance goal wasn't enough, junior midfielder Tamara Brown followed up with just 20 seconds on the clock to put Tufts up by three at the half. The first half effort was a stark contrast to the Jumbos' performance against Trinity earlier this season — the outcome of which they were eager to avenge.
"I think that the three-goal lead was a huge confidence-booster to us and really resonated with the Trinity players," junior midfielder Tess Guttadauro said. "[Trinity] usually doesn't allow so many goals in a game. It allowed us to play with composure, and it made a difference."
"It's a great feeling to have won today," Perkins said. "I feel like we had some unfinished business against Trinity … We knew it would be a battle against them, but we were excited to have the chance to play them again, and we're happy with the outcome."
Though the Bantams were held to just one shot in the first 18 minutes of play and eight total in the half, the Trinity squad came out of the gate more aggressive in the second frame. With 12 minutes remaining in regulation, junior midfielder Robyn Williams got the Bantams on the board on a penalty corner shot from the top of the circle. On a similar play roughly two minutes later, Williams battled past sophomore keeper Marianna Zak with the help of junior forward Christy Bradley and sophomore Payson Sword to make the match 3-2.
But Tufts' consistent defensive unit kept any chance of a Trinity win at bay for the remainder of the game. Posting eight saves on the day, Zak silenced last-minute scoring drives by the Bantams that could've sent the match into overtime.
The story was much the same in the first-half play. Around the 11-minute mark, Zak posted three consecutive saves to keep the Bantams scoreless at halftime. In all, the defensive stops were key to Tufts' success in keeping a sizable lead.
"Our goal was to get ahead early," Perkins said. "We were excited to be up by three goals at halftime, but we knew it would be a battle in the second half … We were somewhat nervous when it got closer, but with most of us having experience in playoff games, we kept our composure."
For many of Tufts' players, the difference in scoring came down to learning to outmaneuver Bantams sophomore keeper Gina Dinallo. Dinallo, who sports the highest save percentage in the NESCAC, had five saves on the match, but Perkins' first-minute goal was the earliest goal made on the Bantams sophomore all season.
"We were extremely happy that we got the shot to play Trinity again," Scholtes said. "Last time, we didn't play to our potential, and I think we played much better this time around … They have a great goalie, but this time, we worked on moving around their goalie, and we were successful."
Over the course of the three-game NESCAC Tournament, the Jumbo offense averaged approximately 25 shots a game while allowing an average of just seven.
Charging ahead, the Tufts squad is focusing on the start of the NCAA Tournament. The team earned an automatic berth to the NCAAs — the fifth time in program history that the Jumbos will participate in the tournament by winning the conference title.
After suffering a championship game loss to Bowdoin 3-2 in double overtime in 2008, Tufts is hoping that this year will yield a different result. With the Div. III bracket yet to be released, the Jumbos are confident that their hard work over the past year will bring them the sweet taste of victory once again — this time on a national stage.
"We've been working so hard since the national championship game last year," Guttadauro said. "We worked hard in the offseason to get where we are today. It's been a year of hard work leading up to this game … We can't wait for the NCAAs. It's like a whole new season. We want to separate this season from last season."
Sapna Bansil contributed reporting to this article.
