Facing the Amherst Lord Jeffs in its first NESCAC home game of the season, the field hockey team lit up Bello Field by accomplishing a number of offensive and defensive feats
In a matchup that many regarded as one of the most important of the season thus far, the nationally ranked No. 3 Jumbos played up to their mantra of "one game at a time," refusing to be intimidated by the Lord Jeffs' success against the two-time defending NCAA champion Bowdoin Polar Bears last weekend.
"We knew Amherst was good, but our last two days of practice have been great, and we worked on a lot of things that were implemented today," coach Tina McDavitt said. "We clicked as a team, worked well on passing and offensive strategies and were doing well on long hits. We love competition and rising to a challenge, and we did that [against Amherst]."
Though Amherst holds a ranking of 16th in the nation and had shut out its past two opponents, the Jumbos wasted no time showing their offensive prowess and kept play in Amherst territory for the majority of the first half. While a Tufts goal was called back by officials just minutes into the game, junior midfielder Tess Guttadauro found another shot opportunity about 20 minutes later on a corner play, giving the home team a 1-0 advantage at the half.
As an inserter, Guttadauro sets up corner plays but is not usually the player who finds the back of the net, a task left to the forward line. But that did not stop her from adding her second score of the game on a feed from junior forward Melissa Burke to put Tufts up 2-0 with under three minutes left in regulation. With a new rule speeding up the pace of the game and an Amherst squad known for its defense, it was an all-hands-on-deck approach to scoring in a game that saw the Jumbos use their depth by firing off 27 shots, compared to just six for the Lord Jeffs.
"They did have an amazing goalkeeper who was NESCAC Rookie of the Year," senior co-captain Margi Scholtes said. "We had a lot of shots that the goalie saved, and then we would rebound the ball and try again, so there was a lot of action right in front of their goal for most of the game."
"As a midfielder you need to be everywhere: on offense when we have the ball and on defense when our opponents have possession, so it's a lot of running," said Guttadauro, who last scored against Springfield College in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament on a penalty corner. "I feel like I have to be carried off in a stretcher at the end of the game."
Behind the success of Tufts' offensive domination was its aggressive defense, specifically Scholtes, sophomore keeper Marianna Zak and sophomore defender Taylor Dyer. In the net for the entirety of the game, Zak only had to step in for two saves
"We have a really strong defense because we play a 3-2-3-2 formation," Scholtes said. "That means that we have a lot of girls double-teaming players with an additional player ready to step up and make offensive plays while on defense."
"In years past, opponents would get into our circle and get corners called up all the time, and now, they got their defensive game so strong that they can come up on the ball in the circle," McDavitt explained. "Margi was playing so smoothly that the officials could see that Amherst was playing too rough, and we were getting free hits called in our favor. Taylor was also composed, clearing the ball out with concise passes. Our defense as a whole stepped up today."
Heading into this week with both non-conference and conference face-offs, Tufts holds the distinction of being the highest-ranking NESCAC program in the country among three other conference teams
Looking forward to a Wednesday home match against UMass Dartmouth, a team that Tufts has beaten by wide margins over the past two years, the Jumbos remain beholden to an ideology that regards even the most seemingly inconsequential games as being on par with high-stakes NESCAC showdowns.
"We have a simple philosophy on the team: make a stop, make a pass, make a shot," Guttadauro said. "That's it. If we just focus on the next game and do our job, we're in a good place."
