The national No. 5 field hockey team on Tuesday traveled to Springfield College for its last chance to work out any kinks before tomorrow's match?up with the undefeated No. 4 Bowdoin Polar Bears. Though the level of play may not have been as high as the team would have liked, the Jumbos walked away with a 4?0 win in which the Pride were denied any shot on goal.
"I don't think it was our best game," senior forward Tamara Brown said. "But there were definitely a lot of positives from it, and we had a lot of people in different positions. So, given that, it was a pretty strong performance."
Despite controlling the pace of play and possession for most of the first period, Tufts was unable to get on the board until less than 30 seconds before the break. As the clock wound down, junior midfielder Lindsay Griffith found herself with the ball on a fast break opportunity. She looked up and sent a lead pass to Brown, who made quick work of the Springfield defense and drew the Pride's junior goalkeeper Alison McCarthy to her left. Brown then slid the ball to sophomore Lia Sagerman on the opposite post, who slammed it into the open net for the 1?0 lead.
After the break, the Jumbos picked up where they left off, scoring quickly on a penalty corner opportunity. Brown received the insert and found Griffith in front of the goal for the 2?0 lead, earning Brown her second assist of the game. Thirteen minutes later, sophomore Missy Karp made it 3?0 on a feed from freshman Chelsea Yogerst. Then, in the closing minutes, sophomore midfielder Kelsey Perkins completed the scoring after receiving an assist from first?year Emily Cannon.
Throughout the game, the defense stood strong, allowing only two shots, neither of which challenged junior keeper Marianna Zak. But the offense was not as composed, often finding itself disorganized due to the
