Field hockey ready for a national championship, one game at a time

The Jumbos rolled to a 19–3 record in 2016. Those 19 wins tied the 2008 and 2012 seasons for the most victories in a season. The NESCAC is Div. III field hockey's toughest conference. Last year Tufts defeated Middlebury 3–1 to take home the NESCAC Championship.Middlebury was the only team to score on Tufts in the NESCAC playoffs.After winning a NESCAC Championship, the Jumbos marched through three rounds of NCAA playoffs without a single opposing shot finding the net. Tufts fell to Messiah College in the National Championship game 1–0 in a shootout after two periods of overtime.

As Tufts enters its 2017 season, there are a number of questions the team must answer. First among these questions is how to improve upon last year — one of the best seasons in the program's history.

"I honestly feel like that game could have gone either way," coach Tina Mattera said. "I think [our players] were surprised that we were going to the final four, but I was not at all. Because I've been there before and I knew that we had the talent. So I think them seeing how good they can be has been a motivating factor big time."

Tufts' leading scorer last season, Annie Artz (LA '17), produced 14 goals. With her gone, the team must now look elsewhere on the roster to find scorers. Mattera expects many of those goals to come from returning forwards like senior forward Mary Travers and junior forward Gigi Tutoni, who scored nine goals apiece last season.

"Mary Travers is a returning All-American. She is just feisty," Mattera said. "She gets in there. She gives 100 percent. Gigi Tutoni ... came back super fit. Her stick's been great. [Sophomore forward] Rachel Hamilton as well is just getting in there. We actually have a new [first-year], Beth Krikorian and she's just ripping shots at practice. The coaching staff is like 'wow.' And I love that we have a balanced attack."

With a new year comes new leadership, and senior co-captains Ellexa Thomas and Mary Kate Patton are ready for their new responsibilities. Patton netted seven goals on just 20 shots last season, while Thomas was an integral starter for a Tufts defense ranked second in the nation in average goals against.

"It’s a really big honor to just represent our team on and off the field and in everything we do," Thomas said. "Whether that’s interacting with a professor or other coaches around campus, I think being able to represent our team is super special and something we’re continuing to look forward to this season."

The new captains are taking over their leadership roles from Nicole Arata (LA '17) and Dominique Zarrella (LA '17). The captains and Artz, were the only seniors on the team last season.

"We’re definitely missing the three seniors that graduated, but we’re a team with a lot of depth and a lot of really great individual players who bring a lot to this team," Patton said. "And I think we’re really excited for those girls to really step up into these new roles and take on the challenge of starting and filling shoes that we’ve lost."

The new captains' job will be easier this year because the team is more experienced than in the past. There are twice as many seniors this year (six) as in 2016 (three) and the junior class is similarly sized. Having so many veterans on the roster allows the team to get up to speed more quickly in the preseason.

"One awesome thing about having such a big and strong upper class ... [is that] the coaches don’t have to spend all of their time trying to help acclimate the [first-years]," Thomas said.

The 2017 season marks the second season the Jumbos will call Ounjian Field home. Ounjian is composed of Astroturf, which is the optimal playing surface for field hockey, allowing teams to play faster and with more finesse.

The Tufts roster is rife with speedsters this year, as coach Mattera is a self-labeled "speed snob." With so many athletic pieces, playing on Astroturf highlights the Jumbos' strengths.

"Fieldturf is just so slow," Patton said. "For us, Astro[turf] is just like night and day. Never truly being able to play in your peak speed or zone in your sport is pretty challenging itself. So being able to get on a field that will really allow us to translate the speed of our players is super important and super vital in beating teams."

By all accounts the first-year players hit the ground running in the preseason. Both captains and coach Mattera were impressed with their overall fitness and ability to quickly adapt to Tufts' system.

In a preseason poll of Div. III field hockey coaches Messiah was ranked first with 45 first-place votes and Tufts second with four first-place selections. This suggests most coaches expect a rematch of last season's National Championship game. The Jumbos are unconcerned, though, preferring to focus on the next game on the schedule.

"You’ve got to talk about the next opponent because that’s who you’re focused on," Thomas said. "You’re never going to make it to the championship if you don’t take it one game at a time. Everybody, especially in the NESCAC, they’re like, 'Oh, I want to beat the team that was in the national championship last year,' so we have a huge target on our backs."

Tufts hosts the Colby Mules in the first game of the season on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Colby match is the first of a four-game home-stand on Ounjian Field. Coach Mattera believes having four games on Astroturf and then multiple away games in a row allows the team to adjust better than constantly switching between home and away, where the fields may be Fieldturf.

"Our big team motto is only taking it one game at a time, so all we're focused on is just beating Colby," senior midfielder Celia Lewis said. "They're a good strong team and we're going to have to play our best hockey to beat them."

Last season the Jumbos took it to the Mules 6–2 on their home field, but with the state of field hockey in the NESCAC, the Jumbos are not letting past successes influence their focus on the next game. NESCAC rivals Middlebury, Bowdoin and Trinity were also ranked within the top 10 nationally in the preseason poll, which highlights just how tough the conference can be.

"Every team and every girl in this conference works their butt off and really loves to compete," Patton said. "No game is ever easy. There’s no such thing as a single rival. Every team is your rival when you show up because the league is just that competitive. It’s really awesome to see that many NESCAC teams in the top 20 every year because you know that you get to play the best competition in the country."