After three games so far this season, it's clear that the field hockey team has thrown open the offensive floodgates with no intention of closing them.
After trouncing Wesleyan and Wellesley last week by scores of 10-1 and 6-1 respectively, the nationally ranked No. 14 Jumbos gave the Colby Mules a rude welcome to Bello Field Saturday, steamrolling them 5-0. Tufts is now 3-0 for the first time since 1998. Leading the Jumbos was sophomore Tamara Brown, who posted her second hat trick in three games. Brown, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL, now sits with a team-high seven goals already this season.
"Tamara is such a hard worker," senior tri-captain Tess Jasinski said. "She comes to practice every day and works her butt off … She just has such an attitude; she never gives up when she's on the field, and I think that really shows in her play. In the circle especially, she's just able to get the ball and is always able to finish it into the goal."
"She's just been fantastic," coach Tina McDavitt added. "She's a work horse, and she's willing to do anything to get better."
While the Jumbos have had their way with Colby in recent years, winning by at least two goals in each of the past three seasons, the Mules came out fighting to change the recent trend.
"We knew it was going to be a battle," Colby coach Amy Bernatchez said. "We knew we were going to have to fight for every ball.
In its first two games of the season, Tufts got on the board early and often, tallying seven first-half goals against Wesleyan and three against Wellesley, but the Mules found a way to quell the Jumbos offensive storm for the majority of the first half.
"I think in the beginning of the game, we were struggling a little [with] our fundamentals: receiving it cleanly and making complete passes," Jasinski said.
But in the last ten minutes of the first half, the momentum began to shift, and Tufts started to take control of the ball-possession battle. The Jumbos closed out the first half with 13 shots on goal compared to the Mules' one.
"Once the game got going, we were able to better control those things … We were able to stay more composed, connect better on our passes and play more aggressively," Jasinski said.
"I think in the last 10 minutes [of the first half], we started to get a little bit tired," Bernatchez said. "That's when I started making a lot of substitutions, so … the chemistry wasn't as good as it was at the beginning of the game. I think our kids quickly got up to speed, but there was a little lapse there."
With two seconds remaining in the first half, Tufts finally cashed in on an offensive opportunity. After being awarded a penalty stroke, the Jumbos turned to senior tri-captain Brittany Holiday, who flawlessly converted her second penalty attempt in as many tries this season to give the Jumbos a narrow advantage heading into halftime.
"It definitely gave us some confidence going into the second half," Jasinski said. "You never want to go in 0-0 at the half, so it felt good to be up, but we also knew that we were going to have to work hard the second half and that they were going to be coming out strong. We knew we had to step it up and focus on our fundamentals."
"It gave us a chance to catch our breath," McDavitt added. "We were like, ‘Okay, we're up one, we can catch our breath and get composed and then work to get another goal.'"
And the Jumbos did just that. Starting approximately 10 minutes into the second half, Brown went on a tear, posting all three of her goals. Two of them came within a four-minute time period that featured assists from senior tri-captains Holiday and Marlee Kutcher.
Sophomore Irene Lewnard rounded out the scoring for the Jumbos, notching her second goal of the season with 6:35 left to play.
Once again, the Jumbos tallied goals from at least three players, making for a balanced offensive attack something that will be instrumental for the team down the stretch after the graduation of last year's leading scorer and co-captain Ileana Casellas-Katz (LA ‘08).
"Last year, Ileana was such a go-to girl for us, so this year it's kind of like, ‘Who's going to get the goal today?'" McDavitt said. "We've got six forwards that can go in, and our inner set [is] really good. Anybody on our team can score, which is awesome."
Goalkeeping was also solid on both ends. In her first full game, freshman Marianna Zak, who has been splitting time in the cage with sophomore Katie Hyder, chipped in with three saves and posted the team's first shutout of the season. Zak has yet to give up a goal so far this year. Additionally, Colby sophomore Liz Fontaine played a far better game than the score may indicate, making several impressive diving stops and making 10 saves.
"It was her first NESCAC game," Bernatchez said of Fontaine. "To come out there and play that big against one of the best teams in the country honestly is something to be very proud of."
The Jumbos will now set their sights on a midweek clash with Babson, another team they have handled with relative ease in recent years. But this time around, things are a little different: The nationally-ranked No. 17 Beavers are undefeated as well, boasting a pristine 4-0 record heading into the match.
"I've seen them play twice, just really analyzing how their play is and how to get in behind them," McDavitt said. "I think they're a good team and really athletic, but they play a different style than we do, and I think we can get around them and behind them.
"They're 4-0, and I think it's a good battle, a good challenge," McDavitt continued. "We want to be a championship team, and to do that you've got to beat really good teams, so it'll be a really fun game."
