COLLEGE FIELD
HOCKEY FINAL SCORE
NCAA Championship Semi-final
Salisbury 1, Tufts 0
At South Hadley, MA
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Game
Box Score
SOUTH HADLEY -- After a four-year absence, the Salisbury
University field hockey team is headed back to the NCAA Division
III national championship game. Alison Bloodsworth scored the
game's only goal with just under 25 minutes remaining Saturday as
the Sea Gulls defeated Tufts, 1-0, in a semifinal contest at Mount
Holyoke College.
A sophomore forward, Bloodsworth deflected a shot from Tara
McGovern past Tufts sophomore goaltender Marianna Zak
(Concord, MA) to propel the Sea Gulls into Sunday's title
game (1 pm) against Messiah. While Messiah is seeking its first
hockey crown, Salisbury will be after its fifth title. Tufts, which
reached the NCAA "final four" for the second straight year,
finished the season at 18-2.
Featuring the two teams at the top of the NCAA Statistics for
goals against average, Saturday's contest between Tufts and
Salisbury was expected to be a low-scoring affair. That's exactly
how a scoreless first half unfolded, with neither team generating
much offense.
"It was a very different style of game for us," Salisbury coach
Dawn Chamberlain said. "Tufts plays a very different zone and
something we haven't seen all year. We knew we were going to have
to make some adjustments. It took us a little longer than I hoped
making those adjustments - pretty much the whole half before we
were able to start generating some offense."
Salisbury sophomore goaltender Anna Cooke posted her eighth
shutout of the season, needing to make only two saves.
"I always like the game with as few shots as possible," Cooke
said. "That's all I could ask for. My defense definitely stepped up
in the game and helped me get the shutout."
Tufts was without head coach Tina McDavitt, who missed the game
after undergoing emergency appendectomy surgery on Friday night.
Then midway through the first half, Tufts lost senior co-captain
and National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) New England
West Region Player of the Year Margi Scholtes (Grosse
Pointe, MI) when she dislocated a finger playing defense
on a penalty corner possession by Salisbury. Also for Tufts, junior
Tamara Brown (Annandale, VA), the New England
Small Conference Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Year,
was limping noticeably after suffering a pulled hamstring injury in
the Jumbos' second-round victory over Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. She was at less than 100 percent, furthering hampering
Tufts' chances of reaching the championship game for the second
straight year. The Jumbos lost to Bowdoin, 3-2, in overtime in last
year's finals.
"I think we're just really proud about how our girls played,"
said Tufts assistant Dani Ryder, who ran the team along with
assistant Craig Rowe. "They had a lot going against them this
weekend. They came out, really gave it their all and left
everything on the field. We couldn't be prouder of them."
The defenses continued to dominate in the second half until
Bloodsworth found herself in the right place at the right time for
her sixth goal of the season.
"I did all I could," said Zak, who had little chance. "It was a
really good goal. I didn't stop it."
The Jumbos finished with a 10-8 advantage in shots over
Salisbury, and penalty corners were tied at six apiece. Zak made
three saves.
Tufts (18-2) suffered its first shutout since a 1-0 loss to
Bowdoin in the championship game of last year's NESCAC
tournament.
Story by Bob Birge, NCAA
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