Jumbos secure win against Christopher Newport as clock ticks down

With under a minute remaining and the score against Christopher Newport University (CNU) tied 1-1, senior midfielder Maddie Chapman won a penalty corner. As time expired, Chapman slid the ball to classmate midfielder Dakota Sikes-Keilp at the top of the circle. Sikes-Keilp wound up and drove a stunning shot past junior goalie Bailey Lien, sealing the 2-1 home victory. Chapman won three penalty corners in the last 10 minutes, and assisted the win-securing blast from Sikes-Keilp that allowed the No. 16 Jumbos to move to 8-3 on the season. 

CNU, which just moved from a No. 14 ranking to the No. 13 spot, opened the scoring in the 17th minute, despite Tufts dictating the pace early on. By the time CNU scored, Tufts first-year attack/midfielder Hanaa Malik had already put a shot on goal, seen another from senior tri-captain Rachel Terveer, which slipped past the post, and won a penalty corner. The team, however, had been unable to convert on any of these opportunities. Despite the pressure from the Jumbos, first-year attack/midfielder Rachael Allshouse cut in from the right and hit a fierce bouncing shot into the cage, allowing the CNU Captains to capitalize on their only shot on target in the entire half. CNU withstood strong offensive pressure from Tufts throughout the half, with Tufts players Malik and senior forward Hannah Park drawing excellent saves from Lien. At the half, the Jumbos had a 7-1 advantage on shots and a 4-0 advantage on penalty corners.

“Despite being down, the team dug deep and played with heart,” sophomore defender Ellexa Thomas said. “[The score] did not diminish our desire to win. We fought back till the very last second.”

Tufts' offensive outpour continued in the second half. The team tested Lien twice until Chapman, assisted by Sikes-Kielp, finally put a shot in off a penalty corner to tie the score at one goal apiece. 

The visitors, however, were keen to reestablish their lead. After Tufts’ initial control of the half, CNU began to fire shots at first-year goalie Emily Polinski, who ended the game with three saves. This effort was to no avail, however, as the Jumbos narrowly secured a victory as the clock wound down.

This win came off the back of a disappointing 3-0 loss to No. 3 Middlebury over the Homecoming weekend.

“We had just as many shots [against Middlebury on Saturday]," sophomore midfielder Mary Travers said. "Our defense was getting the ball out to our midfield, but we weren’t able to finish the chances that we had. It didn’t help [our] cause that the Middlebury goalkeeper played an outstanding game, ending with four saves."

The Jumbos held a 6-4 advantage on penalty corners on Saturday but failed to convert any against the Panthers.

“It was a disappointing game to lose,” Thomas said. “Middlebury is a very talented team and capitalized on their chances, while we did not. Despite the score, we worked very well as a team and really started to click. From here on out, we have to win every 50-50 ball.”

Some matchups this season, like this CNU contest and the Sept. 20 Trinity game, were come-from-behind wins, indicating the team's ability to bounce back from slow starts.

“We never stopped fighting [against Middlebury],” Travers said. “Even in the last 10 minutes we had possession and control of the game. That’s what a good team has to do -- fight harder from a deficit rather than be discouraged.”

The Jumbos currently hold a No. 16 ranking in Div. III, but they are one of five nationally ranked squads in the NESCAC (Bowdoin, Middlebury, Amherst and Williams are the other four). Tufts enters a challenging stretch of games against nationally ranked opponents -- Wellesley (No. 9), Williams (No. 18) and Bowdoin (No. 2) -- and the team is looking to carry its momentum forward to its next game against No. 9 Wellesley on Thursday.

“None of our upcoming games [will be] easy,” Travers said. “So to come off the back of a game that we really earned is huge. Wellesley is a really good team, but we feel like we can build off this result and keep getting better every day, as we have over the course of the season. [Coach Tina McDavitt-Mattera] always says that if [practice] isn’t the most fun two hours of every day, you shouldn’t be here. That’s the way the team feels -- we didn’t start at the top, so building up every day has made our team even stronger at working together.”