MEDFORD - Fourth-quarter goals by Reegan McCluskey and Ashley Zolin in the span of three minutes gave #3 Tufts University Field Hockey a 2-0 victory over #5 Trinity College at home on Sunday afternoon.
After three scoreless quarters, McCluskey broke the 0-0 tie with six minutes left off a corner. The corner opportunity was the third consecutive in a short span for the Jumbos, who were on the offensive side of the field for most of the game. Zolin was the inserter and her pass went right to McCluskey who controlled it and fired a shot past Trinity goalie Olivia McMichael into the left side of the goal. The stretch of three corners for the Jumbos had first started when Schuler Edie made a run down the left side of the field and passed to Rachel Scrivanich inside the circle. Her shot was saved, but she was fouled which started the sequence in which Tufts would get the goal..
After McCluskey's goal, Tufts continued to apply pressure and it allowed them to gain possession in the circle. Andrea DelGiudice was the first player to have a shot and Zolin was there to tip the ball over the goalie and into the net with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. The goal was not only Zolin's first of the season, but also the first of her career.
The first quarter was controlled by Tufts as they came out wanting to rebound from their 2-1 loss on Saturday to Colby. The Jumbos earned three corners, but were unable to score on any of them as McMichael saved shots from McCluskey and Mia D'Angelo.
In the second quarter, the Bantams started to apply pressure on the Jumbo defense and they forced Tufts goalie Sam Gibby to make two saves. Caelin Flaherty had a great look off a corner, but was unable to score as Gibby made a kick save. The Jumbos would respond late in the quarter, as they were threatening when they were in the circle and were awarded a corner. D'Angelo found Lainie Pearson on the wing, but her shot was saved. The half would end with the game tied at zero.
To start the third quarter, the momentum started to shift towards the Jumbos as they were on the offensive. Less than two minutes into the quarter, they had a corner and D'Angelo was able to find Jackie McCarthy at the top of the circle. Her shot was tipped and went over the goal. A couple minutes later Scrivanich had a good opportunity as she was inside the circle and was fouled to give the Jumbos a corner, but Kylie Rosenquest's shot was blocked. The Bantams threatened late in the quarter as Jackie Frank was able to cross the ball into the circle and where it looked like it could be a dangerous chance, but Gibby went all out to kick the ball out of the circle and keep the game scoreless going to the fourth.
The fourth quarter was all Tufts as they would outshoot Trinity 6-0 in the quarter with five of the shots being on goal. It appeared as though Tufts was not going to be able to score as they had run into another hot goalie as McMichael had three of her 10 saves on the game in the fourth quarter. However, the Jumbos were able to score twice later in the quarter to win the game.
The Jumbos out-shot Trinity 18-6 including a 14-5 advantage in shots on goal. With all the offensive work done by the Jumbos, it helped them to hold a 13-2 lead in corners. McMichael had 10 saves on 14 shots on goal, while Gibby had three saves on five shots on goal.
The win moves Tufts to 8-2 overall and a 6-1 record in NESCAC play. Their next game will be on the road in a non-conference game on Thursday at 7 PM against Endicott. This was Trinity's first loss of the season as they are now 9-1 and 5-1 in the NESCAC. They will be at home next Saturday for a conference game versus Bowdoin College at 11 am.
Written by Ryan Daly, Athletic Communications Intern
