The No. 10 field hockey team wrote a new chapter in its history this weekend. On Sunday afternoon, the Jumbos finally scored revenge for years of heartbreaking losses to conference rival and national No. 6 Bowdoin, coming from behind to beat the Polar Bears 2?1 and advance to next weekend's NCAA semifinals.
The Jumbos have not made it this far since the 2009 season, when they suffered a 1?0 semifinal loss at the hands of Salisbury University. Since that year, Tufts has seen early exits in both the NCAA and the NESCAC tournaments.
The victory over Bowdoin came on the heels of an impressive 4?2 win the previous day against No. 9 William Smith, which sent Tufts into the third round.
But the most important victory came on Sunday, as the Jumbos and Polar Bears squared off for their third contest of the season. The previous meetings were split, as Tufts took the regular?season finale in a 3?1 win at home before losing 4?1 to Bowdoin in last week's conference semifinals. Hungry for revenge, the Jumbos came out in full force but initially struggled to piece together threatening scoring opportunities near the cage.
Ten minutes in, senior forward Kelsey Perkins inserted a corner to the top of the circle, where it was knocked in front of the cage. As senior co?captain forward LiaSagerman attempted to put it in from close range, the ball hit a post and rolled out of bounds, denying the Jumbos an early chance to lead.
The Polar Bears counterattacked quickly and had a penalty corner of their own. Tufts sophomore goalkeeper Brianna Keenan dived to her right to make a stop,but as the ball ricocheted Bowdoin junior forward Katie Riley controlled on the left side of the cage and pushed it across to classmate Lauren Schroeder.
As Keenan lay on the ground, the midfielder knocked it into the empty net to give the Polar Bears a 1?0 advantage at the 10:27 mark.
"We had had several opportunities of our own before they scored," junior midfielder Emily Cannon said. "We knew that if we kept the pressure on that we'd be able to get one and put it away, so we tried not to let it get to us when they went ahead, even though the stakes were incredibly high."
Over the next several minutes, Tufts produced several scoring opportunities. Each time, however, Bowdoin senior keeper Kayla Lessard came out of the cage to kick the ball away. Sagerman had another chance to score as she broke into the circle and received a pass, but the senior lost her footing on the slick AstroTurf, allowing the Polar Bears to recover.
The key moment in the first half came when Bowdoin returned to the offensive. With numbers on the Jumbos, the Polar Bears sent a sweeping pass across the front of the cage. No one was there to receive the pass, but the Polar Bears earned themselves a penalty stroke in the middle of the chaotic scene in the middle of the field.
Senior defender KasseyMatoin lined up to take the stroke, and as she put her stick on the ball Keenan lunged to her right. Keenan had guessed correctly, and managed to push the ball away as she dove to the ground, preserving the single?goal deficit for the Jumbos as the game entered intermission.
"[Keenan's] save really kept us within striking distance and gave us an extra burst of intensity," Cannon said. "Coming out of the half we knew that we just had to keep the pressure and knowing that we had [Keenan] behind us made us a lot more confident in pressuring harder."
In the second half, the teams traded possession until the Polar Bears notched another penalty corner opportunity 12 minutes into the period. After Riley's initial shot was blocked, senior defender Brooke Phinney corralled the rebound and took aim again. The Jumbos' last line of defense, senior co?captain Rachel Gerhardt, then made a crucial defensive stop, knocking the ball away just inches before it crossed the goal line.
In the final minutes, the Jumbos took full advantage of the second chance that Keenan's and Gerhardt's stops had given them them. Perkins earned yet another penalty corner, inserting from the right side of the cage to Gerhardt on the circle. Gerhardt ripped a shot into junior forward Chelsea Yogerst, who put the tip?in past Lessard, tying the game in the 51st minute.
"I think after we scored, we had more positive momentum," junior goalkeeper Katie Stuntz said. "After we were able to tie things up, it just completely shifted the dynamic of the game and gave us more hope for a comeback."
The Jumbos had taken the upper hand and continued to control possession, earning another penalty corner in the 62nd minute. Perkins inserted to Gerhardt, whose driving shot was batted away by Lessard. Freshman midfielder Dakota Sikes?Keilp collected the rebound, and pushed it to Sagerman, who finished the ball from close range for the go?ahead goal with just over ten minutes remaining.
After that go?ahead goal, the Jumbos battled the Polar Bears back and forth along the sideline as each team struggled to break into open field. But in the final minutes, Bowdoin broke into Tufts' defensive end, earning themselves a series of penalty corners.
The Jumbos, playing with a slim, uncertain advantage, tried to clear the ball several times unsuccessfully. Each time, the Jumbos ran into a thicket of Bowdoin offensive players, who had pushed everyone up in a last minute effort to tie. Finally, the last seconds ticked off the clock and the Jumbos ran to greet Keenan at the other side of the field.
"This is the first time we've ever beaten Bowdoin twice in one season, and the first time we've ever beaten them in the postseason," Yogerst said. "The game just proved that we could take the NESCAC tournament loss with a grain of salt and focus on using our skill and talent to beat them and prove that our regular season win wasn't a fluke. We knew that if we played our best game of hockey that we'd beat them, and we did."
In their second?round win the day before, the Jumbos' dominance was never in doubt. In the 19th minute, co?captainsGerhardt and Sagerman connected on a penalty corner, as Sagerman dove forward, driving home the first goal of the contest moments before she hit the ground.
In just two minutes, the Jumbos doubled their advantage. Chapman took a penalty corner, inserting to Gerhardt at the top left of the circle. Gerhardt drove a rocket in towards the left side of the cage, where Yogerst waited to tap it in past sophomore goalkeeper Catherine Hare.
In the second half, the Jumbos remained in control, and they notched their third goal of the game just five minutes in when Perkins inserted to Cannon on a corner. Cannon launched the ball across to Chapman, who sent a line drive in from the top right of the circle. Chapman's shot threaded the William Smith defenders and rolled past Hare into the back of the cage.
Junior midfielder Melanie O'Connor then scored and gave the Herons some hope. But in the 58th minute, Perkins took a penalty corner for Tufts and after Gerhardt's shot was blocked, the Jumbos earned a penalty stroke. Cannon stepped up to take the stroke and cleanly drove it into the board to the keeper's right.
"Even as they battled back, we knew to just keep playing our game and stay composed," Yogerst said. "I think we dominated throughout, but it was just a matter of us finishing our opportunities. Getting a solid win gave us confidence for the next day, knowing that it doesn't matter who we play, we're still capable of making adjustments during the game and changing things up."
This week, the Jumbos will spend just three days at home in preparation for the Final Four. After having returned from William Smith late Sunday night, Tufts will head back to Geneva on Thursday afternoon in order to get as much rest and opportunities to practice as possible before their game against unranked DePauw University on Saturday morning. Their opponent, however, may just be the most unexpected part of their championship weekend journey.
Just as Tufts completed its come?from?behind win over Bowdoin on Sunday afternoon, another NESCAC power was tumbling out of the tournament. National No. 1 Middlebury, the tournament's first?seeded team, suffered its first loss of the season in a devastating 2?1 double overtime decision to DePauw.
"When we found out that Middlebury had lost, we were still on the field after the Bowdoin game and the results were announced over the loudspeakers," Yogerst said. "We had assumed that they would win their game, and we were surprised to say the least, but it just goes to show that you can't underestimate any team, and anything can happen especially in the playoffs."
Had the Panthers won, the Jumbos would have faced them in next weekend's semifinal contest. But the absence of Middlebury presents a golden opportunity for Tufts, who lost to the Panthers 5?2 in ugly fashion in the first game of the season. Regardless, the Jumbos know they will have to dig deep if they are to make it through to Sunday.
"A lot of our preparation last week was focused corners and tipping, and it paid off," Cannon said. "Except for my penalty stroke, all of our goals this weekend came off of corners. After the Bowdoin game, we know we can beat anyone and we intend to do that."
