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Senior Melissa Burke
has scored three goals in three games this fall
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AMHERST, MA – Senior forward Melissa Burke
(Walpole, MA) scored a pair of unassisted goals to lead the
third-ranked Tufts University field hockey team to a 3-0 win over
16th-ranked Amherst College Friday afternoon on Gooding Field.
Tufts has now won three consecutive meetings with Amherst, each
of which has come by shutout. Friday marked the first time the
Jeffs lost a home opener since a 2002 setback to Tufts. The Lord
Jeffs drop to 1-2 (1-2 NESCAC) on the season, while the Jumbos
remain perfect at 3-0 (2-0 NESCAC).
Burke's goals came in the 10th and 63rd minutes, with reigning
NESCAC Offensive Player of the Year Tamara Brown
(Annandale, VA) also scoring for the Jumbos in the 39th minute.
Junior Marianna Zak
(Concord, MA) made seven saves for the visitors and sophomore Sarah
Wise (Akron, OH) stopped nine shots for the hosts, as each
goalkeeper put in a strong performance.
The Jumbos had out-shot the opposition by a combined 49-12 in
their first two games of the season, but the gap was much closer on
Friday as Amherst took 10 shots compared to 16 for Tufts. The
visitors attempted 12 penalty corners, while the hosts took
nine.
Tufts came out strong and earned two penalty corners in the
opening two minutes. The game's first goal came when junior Sarah
Cannon (Atkinson, NH) lofted a shot over Wise's head, but the
Amherst goalkeeper ran back to her line and made an outstanding
save by knocking the ball out of mid-air with her stick. Despite
the effort, the ball made its way to Burke, who rocketed a shot to
the far post and just inside the cage to make it a 1-0 game with
25:40 remaining in the first half.
Amherst nearly tied the score with five minutes to play in the
opening period when Katie McMahon (Denville, NJ) passed the ball
through the crease to the right of the goal. Chrissy Cantore
(Hershey, PA) was there for the one-timer, but her shot rattled off
the post and went over the end line.
The Jeffs had another prime opportunity one minute later on a
penalty corner. McMahon's pass to the top of the circle found Carly
Dudzik (Darien, CT), who got into position and fired a hard shot on
target, but Tufts senior midfielder Jess Perkins
(Barrington, RI) was there to make a key defensive save with four
minutes on the clock. The Jumbos held a 10-4 advantage in shots and
a 9-4 edge in corners in the first 35 minutes.
It took Tufts only 3:19 to double its lead in the second half.
Senior Tess
Guttadauro (Carlisle, MA) set up for a corner and sent a pass
to Perkins, who picked up an assist when Brown finished off the
play to give the Jumbos a 2-0 lead with 31:41 to play.
Amherst had a pair of golden opportunities denied by Zak in a
span of only three minutes. The first came eight minutes into the
second half when a re-directed shot was headed toward the cage, but
Zak made a sprawling save with her right leg. Moments later, a
beautiful shot by Dudzik was met by an even more impressive save by
Zak, who made a diving stop with her stick.
The game's only yellow card was called on Amherst with 8:16
remaining in regulation, and Tufts needed only 32 seconds to
capitalize as Burke notched her second goal of the afternoon to
give the Jumbos a 3-0 lead, which stood up as the final score.
The Lord Jeffs and Jumbos will each return to action Wednesday,
Sept. 22. Amherst will travel to Springfield College for a 7 pm
meeting with the Pride, while Tufts will head to UMass Dartmouth
for a 6 pm game against the Corsairs.
Game Statistics
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Game release courtesy of Amherst
College
