For the field hockey team, this year's Homecoming match against the Colby Mules was a game for the record books.
Nationally ranked No. 3 Tufts marked its fifth shutout of the season and its 29th consecutive regular season win with the 7-0 decision. Leading the offensive effort, junior midfielder Tamara Brown and junior forward Melissa Burke each notched hat tricks. Burke's was her first while playing for Tufts, while Brown's three-goal effort launched her to the distinction of the program's all-time leading scorer, an honor once held by Aryn Landau (LA '90).
"It's a really cool feeling," said Brown, who recorded the fourth hat trick of her collegiate career. "I'm honored, but a lot of credit goes to my teammates that gave me the opportunities to score in the first place. From here, I just want to keep winning."
Brown's seven-point game brought her career tally to 98 points, enough to surpass Landau's record-setting 97-point mark. The feat is compounded by the fact that Brown has racked most of her points in just two seasons of play, as the third-year midfielder spent the majority of her freshman year on the bench with an ACL injury. Brown leads the NESCAC in goals, assists, points and shots.
Setting the pace early, Brown and Burke traded scoring drives for the first 35 minutes of the game. Just thirty seconds into the first half, Brown put Tufts on the scoreboard on an individual effort. About twenty-five minutes later, Burke followed suit with help from senior forward Michelle Kelly to record the Jumbos' second goal.
Fueled by each other's momentum, Brown and Burke each scored once more in the final four minutes of first-half action, with first-year midfielder Rachel Gerhardt picking up her first assist of the season on Brown's goal. Up 4-0 at halftime, the Jumbos had fired off 24 shots to Colby's four and entered the second half with their largest lead of the season in NESCAC play.
"I think that at the beginning of the season we were really dominating teams, but had trouble finishing," Burke said. "Everyone did their job on Saturday. The passing was great, and the defense did a great job of keeping the ball out of our backfield … We've talked a lot about drawing the goalie out and then making a pass instead of just taking a shot and that worked for us on Saturday."
Noticeably absent from the match was a competent offensive effort by Colby. With just five players recording shots and only eight shots total to Tufts' 35-shot mark, the unranked Mules met their demise at the hands of a fierce Jumbo defense. With the help of senior defender Emma Kozumbo and senior co-captain Margi Scholtes, the defensive unit kept the Mules out of the circle for most of the match. Splitting time in goal, sophomore Marianna Zak and junior Katie Hyder had to make just two saves apiece to close out the second most lopsided win in just the past week.
"Our defensive players stepped up Saturday," Burke said. "We've worked a lot on our zone defense and communication in practice that has helped us keep the ball downfield and the score in our favor."
Going into the second half with a 4-0 lead, the Jumbos had the chance to diversify their lineup with a mix of starters and substitute players — and the decision paid off. While Brown and Burke completed their hat tricks in the second half, junior midfielder Tess Guttadauro picked up a rebound on a shot from Brown to mark her third goal of the year. In all, the Jumbos iced the Mules 7-0, dropping their NESCAC rival to 4-5 overall. According to Brown, the ferocious offensive effort was one that Tufts tried to perfect in practice leading up the match.
"We knew Colby was kind of a scrappy team," Brown said. "We knew that whatever the score was that they wouldn't be on top in the end. We wanted to keep pounding the ball in the circle and, in practice, we've worked a lot on just being ready to recover rebounds and get off quick shots and that all showed during the game."
Recording an astounding 16 goals in the past week alone, the 9-0 Tufts squad is gearing up to face the 3-5 Connecticut College Camels on Wednesday in hopes of its sixth NESCAC victory this season. Though they have not lost to the Camels since 2004, the Jumbos remain cautious as their NESCAC foe has proven competitive against some of the top conference teams, like Trinity and Williams.
"I think Connecticut College is having a stronger season than in years past," Brown said. "They've gone down to the wire against Bowdoin and Trinity and just because we're 9-0 doesn't mean we don't need to work hard on Wednesday."
