Jumbos topple Bobcats in 5-0 win

The field hockey team added a tally to its win column on Saturday with a 5-0 victory over Bates in Lewiston, Maine. The Jumbos improved to 9-4 on the season and 6-2 in NESCAC play with the road win.

Tufts got on the board toward the beginning of the first half. Most of the period was played in the middle of the field, and there were few opportunities for either side, but the Jumbos were able to capitalize on the first penalty corner and shot of the game with a goal from senior tri-captain midfielder Maggie Chapman in the 11th minute.

Senior midfielder Dakota Sikes-Keilp added to the Tufts lead before halftime, scoring off the rebound of a blocked shot in the 32nd minute of action. The goal was the third of the season for Sikes-Keilp.

The Jumbos went into halftime with a 2-0 lead, and they extended their lead almost immediately when play resumed. Senior tri-captain midfielder Rachel Terveer scored an easy finish off a cross from first-year forward/midfielder Hanaa Malik just 42 seconds into the second half. Malik contributed her own goal later in the half, redirecting a shot by Sikes-Keilp off a penalty corner to make it 4-0 in the 54th minute.

Senior forward Hannah Park capped off the scoring for the Jumbos in the 60th minute with her sixth goal of the season, extending the lead to 5-0. Park credited the whole team for strong play in the win.

“It was teamwork; our forwards were our best line of defense, our midfielders stepped up when they needed to [and] our backs intercepted any ball that came near them,” Park told the Daily in an email.

The Jumbos finished the game with an impressive 22-4 shot advantage (14-2 in shots on goal) over the Bobcats, along with an 11-2 edge in penalty corners. The game marked the third time this season that Tufts scored at least five goals in a contest, each resulting in a win.

“I think we were effective in playing offense all over the field, starting with our backs all the way up to the forwards [and] especially because we were playing on an AstroTurf field, we were able to string together a lot of small passes to get the ball up the field," senior defender Alexandra Jamison told the Daily in an email. "Also, we were working hard to win the 50/50 balls in the midfield to keep it up on our offensive end.”

The win for Tufts came on the heels of a 1-0 defeat against Wellesley on Oct. 15. Wellesley was the final out-of-conference opponent for Tufts, as the showdown with Bates was the first of three NESCAC contests to close the regular season schedule.

“Every game is important, but NESCAC games are especially important since they impact our seeding for postseason," Jamison said. "Bates had just had some really good wins, and we knew they would be a tough team, and we were definitely excited to get back into conference play and get off on the right foot since the rest of our games are all NESCAC games."

No. 16 Tufts is third in the NESCAC following the win against Bates. Tufts closes out the regular season with a game at Williams this Saturday, Oct. 24 before hosting undefeated Bowdoin in the regular season finale on Oct. 28.

“Every game we play is an important game, and they are always competitive [because] every team in the NESCAC is skilled, and we take no team lightly,” Park said. “It is definitely important to finish strong in our last two NESCAC regular season games. We are a competitive team and want to do well.”