Box Score MEDFORD - Tufts University will play for the NESCAC Field Hockey championship for the first time since 2010 after the Jumbos took a 5-0 victory over Williams College Saturday in the conference semi-finals at Ounjian Field.
Tufts (15-2) will face the winner of Saturday's other semi-final between Hamilton and Middlebury in the conference championship game on Sunday at Ounjian Field starting at noon. Williams finishes its season at 10-7.
Today the Jumbos took control of the game late in the first half, then scored four second-half goals to pull away. Junior Mary Kate Patton scored a pair of goals less than three minutes apart early in the second half to lead the Tufts. Classmate Celia Lewis added a goal and an assist.
The first 25 minutes of the game saw even play before the Jumbos earned the first penalty corner of the contest with 11 minutes on the clock. Tufts would get three more corners in the next four minutes, but Williams goalie Margaret Draper was outstanding with six saves during those sequences. Eph sophomore Caroline Taverna also had a defensive save.
However, the Jumbos broke through on their fifth consecutive corner. Lewis' shot from the top of the cirle was deflected into the goal by Annie Artz with 2:46 remaining until halftime for a 1-0 Tufts lead. The goal was Artz's team-best 12th of the year.
Though Williams may have even had a slight edge in possession early in the game, they managed just one shot in the first half. Draper finished the period with 10 saves as Tufts had a 15-1 advantage in shots.
The Ephs had a pair of attempts to open the second half - one wide by Rachel Brissette and the other by Katie Gallop was blocked - before the Jumbos unloaded. Patton scored two nearly identical goals at 3:48 into the second half and again at 6:12 to put Tufts up 3-0. Both times she rocketed shots from near the top of the circle into the goal unassisted. It was the first two-game game of her career.
Two minutes after that, a shot from the top of the circle by Tufts freshman Marguerite Salamone was saved by Draper, but junior Gigi Tutoni was perfectly placed to score the rebound and put Tufts up 4-0.
Williams earned its first penalty corner of the game 15 minutes into the second half, but Gallop's shot was blocked. The Ephs earned corner immediately and Alex Bennett's shot was also blocked.
Tufts' Lewis scored unassisted with 15:21 on the clock to make it 5-0.
The Ephs nearly broke up the shutout on a penalty corner in the final two minutes. Their first attempt by Kit Rosen was blocked and then Jumbo goalie Emily Polinski saved a shot by Maggie Shilling.
Tufts finished with a 23-7 advantage in shots and 6-4 on corners. Polinski needed to make just that one save while Draper had 11.
Head coach Tina McDavitt Mattera's Jumbos will be attempting to win their second NESCAC title tomorrow. The Jumbos won in 2009 and were the runner-up in 2010 and 2008.
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