MIDDLEBURY, VT (November 6, 2022) -- The No. 9 Tufts University field hockey team gave No. 2 Middlebury College all it could handle Sunday afternoon in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title match, but the Panthers were able to earn a 2-0 win for their fifth straight conference title in play from Kohn Field.
With the win, No. 2 Middlebury earned the NESCAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, while the Jumbos will have to wait until the NCAA Selection Show Sunday night at 10:30 PM to see if their season will continue in the postseason.
The Jumbos came out with motivation on Sunday, as it earned their first penalty corner of the game with just over a minute into the game. On the corner,
Gabby Sousa had a strong attempt on goal from the left wing but her shot whizzed just wide left of the post.
Tufts (12-6) continued to put the pressure on its hosts, and earned another penalty corner in the 12th minute but a
Reegan McCluskey shots attempt was blocked. Minutes later, Tufts earned back-to-back penalty corners but it was unable to get a shot off as the game went to the second quarter scoreless.
In the second period, Tufts had another great chance to take the lead in the 24th minute but a shot from
Rachel Scrivanich was denied and the rebound shot from Andrea Del Giudice went wide. The Panthers would start to move the momentum to their side midway through the period, punching through for the game's opening goal on a penalty corner goal from Katie George, her 13th of the season.
After the intermission, the teams played a back-and-forth third quarter that didn't feature a ton of shots until the end of the period. Middlebury posted an attempt on goal with seven seconds to go in the period that was saved by
Sam Gibby, and the put back attempt was stopped off the line by Sousa to keep the score at 1-0 Middlebury.
Early in the fourth quarter, Middlebury was able to double its lead to 2-0 as Audrey Lazar scored off an assist from George at 45:53 of the contest. Tufts would no go away though, earning some late penalty corners and two late shots but wasn't able to beat Grace Harlan as the Panthers held on for the victory.
McCluskey led the squad with two shots on the day, while DelGiudice, Sousa, Scrivanich and
Ashley Zolin all had an attempt on goal. Gibby played extremely well all tournament, finishing Sunday's contest with six saves while denying more shot attempts with her aggressiveness in the circle.
The Jumbos will be looking for their fourth straight NCAA appearance if they are selected to the field Sunday night, while a selection would be its 13th all-time. Tune into NCAA.com at 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening as well as checking back at gotuftsjumbos.com for more information.
--JUMBOS--
