The field hockey team's hot start has now earned it a spot in the record books.
The nationally ranked No. 5 Jumbos recorded a 2-0 road victory over UMass Dartmouth on Wednesday to improve to 10-0 on the season, eclipsing the previous mark for best start to a season. With the win, Tufts also tied a school record for its longest in-season winning streak, set in 1981.
Tufts wasted no time jumping ahead, at just 1:41 into the game, senior tri-captain Brittany Holiday took a rebound off Corsairs junior keeper Seanna Golden and posted her fourth goal of the season.
The Jumbos had countless chances to pad their lead but were unable to convert on a number of shot opportunities in the circle as the game progressed. After Holiday's goal, the Corsairs strengthened on defense, block-tackling Tufts' forwards to regain possession and getting strong play from Golden, who recorded 14 saves over the course of the day. Sloppy play on Tufts' end didn't help matters.
"They had some really tough defenders that had some key defensive tackles and block tackles that stopped our forwards," junior midfielder Margi Scholtes said. "On our end, though, we were unable to connect on some passing plays or rushed taking shots and we could've communicated better on plays."
"We had a lot of near misses this game," coach Tina McDavitt said. "We were hitting off the side of the cage or over the cage or off the post in most cases. We just couldn't get the ball in on some plays, and we're going to need to work on consistent passing patterns and runs down the field in the future."
The Jumbos' defense helped assuage continued rejections from UMass Dartmouth's keeper, clearing the circle and transferring the ball to the midfield line. With the Corsairs playing a high forward, the Jumbo defense adjusted, staying in the backfield and moving toward the play to protect freshman Marianna Zak in goal. Junior defender Emma Kozumbo, who made her first appearance of the season after recovering from a preseason foot injury, was integral in moving play out of the Tufts backfield.
"Emma played great ... and stepped up on defense when we needed her to," senior tri-captain Tess Jasinski said. "She did a good job communicating, channeling and being patient on defense, and her passing game was consistent."
With less than a minute remaining in the first half, sophomore forward Tamara Brown shot in the second and final goal of the game, her team-leading 14th of the season, off a pass from junior forward Amanda Russo.
The second half saw a resurgence from UMass Dartmouth in an attempt to avoid a shutout loss, but the damage was already done. Over the course of the game, the Jumbos outshot the Corsairs 28-2, with Zak making saves on both tries. By the time sophomore Katie Hyder relieved Zak midway through the second half, Tufts was able to hold possession with two-touch passing plays, evading UMass Dartmouth's attempt to block-tackle Tufts' forwards and regain control.
"[UMass Dartmouth] did a lot of crossing the ball through the midfield to the wings with diagonal passing patterns, and this slowed us down at first," McDavitt said. "Once we caught on, we shut them down and prevented shot opportunities."
"When we began to tie in two-touch passing in the second half, we were able to get around their defense," Scholtes said. "By moving possession of the ball quickly, we maintained possession for most of the second and evaded their block tackles."
Next on tap for the Jumbos is NESCAC rival Williams, a showdown that will mark Tufts' last NESCAC home game of the season and set the stage for upcoming clashes on the road against Trinity and nationally ranked No. 1 Bowdoin in the upcoming weeks. While Tufts revels in their historic 10th consecutive win, it is looking only as far as Saturday.
"We're ready to prove that we deserve to be No. 1 in the country," Scholtes said. "Today we broke the record for best starts in Tufts history and we're four goals away from breaking our season record last year for most goals in a season. We just need to stay focused and keep up our momentum right now as we face a strong opponent in Williams [on] Saturday."
"As we saw last Saturday against Middlebury, we didn't have a lot of scoring opportunities, and [Wednesday], when we had so many opportunities we weren't able to convert," Jasinski added. "We need to focus on concise gameplay and not taking any opportunity for granted."
