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First-year Kali DiGate scored her first collegiate goal in the game
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MIDDLETOWN, CT - Visiting Tufts (9-4, 5-4 NESCAC) blew open a close game with a quick five-goal burst at the start of the second half to push out to a 10-3 bulge and never looked back in subduing Wesleyan (5-9, 1-8), 14-7, in a NESCAC matchup on Saturday.
The #14-ranked Jumbos close out the regular season on Wednesday by visiting Bowdoin for a showdown in the NESCAC standings. The winner will lock up the #5 seed in the upcoming NESCAC tournament while the loser will finish sixth in the standings as both stand 5-4 in conference play. Wesleyan ends its season Wednesday with a trip to Connecticut College. Both Wesleyan and Conn have been eliminated from NESCAC post-season contention.
The Jumbos doubled their scoring output for the game with five goals by the time 5:27 ran off the second-half clock as the score stood 5-3 at halftime. Senior Kelly Hyland (Acton, MA) finished off her hat trick by netting a pair just 2:32 apart to begin the second-half scoring, making it a 7-3 Tufts lead. Both her shots came from short range and low past Wesleyan senior keeper Maggie Drowica, who finished with five saves.
Hyland had initiated scoring on the day just 47 seconds into the contest. She now has 19 goals on the year. Junior Kerry Eaton (Norfolk, MA) was involved in the next three Tufts goals of the second half to make it a seven-goal cushion. She scored a pair and set up senior Lara Kozin (Suffern, NY) on another. Eaton improved her team-leading goal total this year to 32 while Kozin had three points on a goal and two assists to up her team-best scoring figure to 54 points (23-31-54). Senior Sterling Champion had the most productive day points-wise for the Jumbos against the Cardinals with two goals and two assists for four points, adding significantly to her seasonal scoring of 11 points coming into the contest.
The Jumbos led by as many as eight goals in the game, the last time 13-5 with 11:24 to play on a goal by junior Kaitlyn Leidl (Califon, NJ). Wesleyan got two back 36 seconds apart late in the game from seniors Claire O'Brien and Liz Chabot to cut the margin to 13-7 with 3:23 left before Tufts netted the day's final tally at 2:27 off the stick of freshman Kali DiGate (Wilmington, DE).
Wesleyan got two goals from junior Lydia Kring while O'Brien had a goal and an assist, as did sophomore Maddy Coulter, to join Kring with a two-point day.
Starting Tufts netminder junior Tess Shapanka (Sudbury, MA) made three saves in her 56 minutes of action before being spelled by freshman Rachel Gallimore (Hanover, NH), who yielded the final Cardinal marker.
Game box score
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Game recap courtesy of Wesleyan University
