Box Score
MEDFORD - Senior Casey Egan (Massapequa, NY) scored on a free-position shot with 45 seconds remaining in the second half to complete an 8-7 come-from-behind victory by the Tufts women's lacrosse team against Hamilton College in the season opener on Saturday afternoon at Bello Field.
The game pitted two national top 15 teams against each other as the #7 Continentals visited the #14 Jumbos. The game was the first NESCAC contest for Hamilton, which moved over from the Liberty League.
The Continentals had the lead for the majority of the game and were up 6-3 following a goal by junior Hannah Hoar (Wellesley, MA) with 16:55 remaining in the second half. The Continentals controlled the ensuing draw, but could not capitalize and the tide began to turn.
The Jumbos would score five of the final six goals. Senior Kelly Hyland (Acton, MA) got the comeback started with an unassisted tally at 10:28. Tufts tied the scored at 6-6 on free-position goals by Eliza Halmo (Brunswick, ME) at 8:00 and Emily Pillemer (Arlington, MA) at 7:08. Hyland then assisted senior tri-captain Lara Kozin (Suffern, NY) at 3:33 for the first Tufts lead of the game, 7-6.
Hamilton took the draw control and it led to a free-position goal by junior Rachel Friedman (Fairfield, CT) that tied the game 7-7 with 2:33 remaining. The Continentals won the draw again, but threw the ball out of bounds during their possession. Tufts cleared it, and then Egan earned a free-position shot and buried it for an 8-7 Tufts advantage. Hamilton again won the draw, but lost possession and the ball was scooped up by Tufts junior goalie Tess Shapanka (Sudbury, MA), who ran out the clock.
Friedman had a goal and two assists, and sophomore Emily Brodsky (Bryn Mawr, PA) scored twice as Hamilton built a 4-2 halftime lead. Sophomore Gabby Horner (Allentown, NJ) had both Jumbo goals. Horner's third goal pulled Tufts to within 4-3 early in the second half, but Hamilton had the next two before the Jumbos were able to finish strong.
In addition to three goals by Horner, both Hyland and Kozin had two points in the game. Sophomore Kelley Cohen (Framingham, MA) was among the defensive leaders for Tufts with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior tri-captain Katie Lotz added two caused turnovers to three ground balls. Tufts won the ground-ball battle 22-10. Shapanka made seven saves in her first career start.
Friedman, Brodsky and sophomore Katie D'Antonio (Garden City, NY) all had a pair of goals for Hamilton. Two assists gave Friedman a game-high four points. The Continentals dominated draw controls 13-4, including five by Friedman. Junior Paige Engeldrum (West Islip, NY) finished with three caused turnovers. Sophomore Dewi Caswell (Pennington, NJ) stopped six shots in goal.
Tufts travels to Connecticut College for a NESCAC game on Tuesday afternoon. Hamilton plays at Wesleyan tomorrow.
Game boxscore
#
