Box Score 
MIDDLEBURY, Vt - Erin Nicholas scored with 2:28 remaining in the first overtime to give #1-ranked Middlebury College a 2-1 victory against #4 Tufts University in a high-stakes NESCAC field hockey game on Sunday afternoon.
In the second minute of the seven-on-seven overtime period, Tufts' Claire Foley broke up a pass from a Middlebury defender near midfield. Foley rushed into the Panther end and sent a pass to Gillian Roeca in the middle of the circle, but goalie Grace Harlan came sliding out to make a save.
Middlebury would earn a corner with three minutes on the OT clock. A shot by Isabel Chandler was just wide left and then a pass into the circle was kicked to the left sideline by Jumbo goalie Sam Gibby. From there Chandler fired a pass that Nicholas had to reach for at the top of the circle, which helped her open space to move right setting up her shot for the game-winning goal.
Tufts had tied the game at 1-1 with under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. From along the right sideline in the middle of the Panther zone, Marin Waddington sent a long pass that skidded through a handful of Panther defenders to Roeca at the edge of the cricle. She maneuvered toward goal and slipped a pass under a defender's stick to Foley in front and she scored to keep the Jumbos in it.
After 46 minutes of scoreless play at the start, the Panthers had taken a 1-0 lead when Chandler scored on a Middlebury corner. She inserted and then the shot by Grace Murphy was popped up into the air on a deflection. Chandler batted it in for the Panther lead barely one minute into the final quarter.
Middlebury had out-shot Tufts 4-0 and had a 2-0 advantage on corners in the first half. Jumbo starting goalie Andie Stallman made three saves within a short period of time late in the first and early in the second. On a Panther corner with under two minutes remaining in the first, she flashed her left pad to save a close attempt by Caroline Segal.
Tufts had three shots on goal in the second half, with Harlan saving two. On the first, Foley had received the ball on the left side of the goal with an open shot. She tried to put it inside the far post, but Harlan made the save. She then had another on a Reegan McCluskey attempt during a Jumbo corner early in the fourth.
The hosts finished with advantages of 8-4 in shots and 6-4 in corners. Harlandmade three saves to earn the victory. Gibby took the loss for Tufts.
