Tufts ousts Amherst, Hamilton, loses to Wesleyan

The No. 12-ranked Tufts field hockey team moved to 7-2 on the season and 5-1 within the NESCAC, edging past Amherst College 1-0 in a postponed game yesterday after securing a home win on Sunday with a 6-1 win over Hamilton. 

“Against Hamilton, we [started] connecting and communicating better between the offense and the defense, our forwards were stepping up and playing really good defense and likewise our backs and midfielders were getting involved and helping more on attack," senior defender Alexandra Jamison told the Daily in an email. "Especially in the second half, this helped us keep the ball in our opponent's circle and both limit their opportunities and create our own."

Tufts struck first -- senior forward Hannah Park scored in the 15th minute of play to put the team up 1-0. The Continentals, however, came back to tie the score less than a minute later with a goal by junior forward Merisa Dion. The Jumbos took the lead back before halftime with a goal by junior tri-captain forward Dominique Zarrella. Tufts went into the break with a 2-1 lead and only improved on their lead in the second half.

First-year forward/midfielder Hanaa Malik scored the first of four Tufts second-half goals in the 48th minute. Park added a second score, as she tallied her fourth and fifth goals of the season in the game. Zarrella, too, scored again in the second half, upping her total to a team-leading seven goals and 14 points on the year. First-year midfielder Fallon Shaughnessy scored her first career goal to close out the scoring in the 68th minute.

“Having the midfielders and defenders position us in the correct spots and communicating to the forwards allowed us to stop many balls coming out of the 16-yard circle and re-attack," Park told the Daily in an email. "Also, when we were transitioning, our midfielders helped a lot to support the forwards and sent big balls into the circle for tips."

The Jumbos exploded offensively in the second period en route to a decisive 6-1 victory. On the game, Tufts outshot Hamilton by a 24-14 margin.

"It was important to just get back on track with a win generally, but especially [with a] NESCAC win," Jamison said. "Against Hamilton, we were able to push back, which is really exciting with so many challenging games, both NESCAC and non-NESCAC, coming up.”

On Sept. 29, Tufts fell to Wesleyan 3-2 in Tufts' first road game of the season. The loss was the first conference defeat on the season for the Jumbos. Tufts fell behind early in the contest, as Wesleyan senior tri-captain forward Hannah Plappert got her team on the board in the fifth minute off a penalty corner. Just three minutes later, Plappert struck for her second goal of the game, again off a penalty corner, to put her team up 2-0 early. 

Park pulled Tufts within one point of Wesleyan late in the first half off an assist from sophomore midfielder Mary Travers. After the Jumbo goal, the score remained 2-1 until midway through the second half.

In the 58th minute, the Cardinals scored the goal that would eventually secure the win for them. This time, Plappert assisted on the goal for Tierney Behles. Less than a minute later, Tufts again narrowed the gap off a goal from senior midfielder Rachel Terveer that cut the Wesleyan lead to3-2 with a little over 10 minutes remaining. However, the Jumbos were unable to score an equalizing goal to push the game into overtime, ending a four-game win streak.

According to Jamison, the team was not focused enough on the task at hand.

“We've been having trouble in weekday games really getting into the zone and playing the best field hockey that we can," Jamison told the Daily in an email. "I think that we weren't focused enough on the game."

The Jumbos outshot the Cardinals by a 13-4 margin and had seven penalty corner opportunities, compared to Wesleyan's four, but these advantages did not translate on to the scoreboard.

Tufts resumes its season this weekend at Homecoming when they host Middlebury at 12 p.m. on Saturday.