MEDFORD, MA (November 9, 2022) - The No. 6 Tufts University field hockey team defeated Castleton University 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament thanks to goals from four different Jumbo attackers. With the win on Wednesday evening, the Jumbos advance in the NCAA Tournament and will travel to Rowan University where they will take on Messiah this Saturday in the "Sweet 16" at 2 PM.
Rachel Scrivanich got the scoring started nine minutes into the game when she tipped a shot by
Kylie Rosenquest. The goal was Scrivanich's third of the season. Scrivanich was a key part of the Jumbo offense on the night as she put the pressure on the Spartan defense. The offense for Tufts registered 30 shots on the night with 13 being on goal. The Jumbos would continue to apply the pressure, but the quarter ended with Tufts leading 1-0.
The second quarter saw the Jumbos register 11 of their 30 shots, but Castleton freshman goalie Zoe Martin made five saves to keep the game 1-0. Martin fended off two shots from
Meghan MacDonald in the span of a couple of minutes. The first time it was a one-on-one attempt where MacDonald beat her defender to get room to shoot, but Martin fended it off. Less than two minutes later MacDonald had a clean look after Scrivanich's shot was saved, but Martin recovered nicely to make the save. At half the Jumbos remained leading 1-0.
Just a little more than a minute into the third quarter, the Jumbos would take a 2-0 lead after Rosenquest tipped in a
Reegan McCluskey shot. The play started with
Mia D'Angelo feeding it to McCluskey off a penalty corner and Rosenquest was able to find space behind a defender and tip it in. Then D'Angelo got in the board with less than 30 seconds left in the quarter as Rosenquest made a nice move down the right side. Rosenquest fed it to D'Angelo in the middle and she was patient in the middle waiting for Martin to come off her line. When she did, D'Angelo slotted home her sixth goal of the season. The Jumbos would lead 3-0 at the end of the third quarter.
Tufts would add a fourth goal in the last quarter when McCluskey scored off a penalty stroke. After a shot by Rosenquest, the referee awarded the Jumbos the penalty stroke and McCluskey buried it into the bottom right corner to give the Jumbos a 4-0 advantage. The Spartans would get on the board with less then three minutes remaining when Emily Harris scored her 35
th goal of the season after a great feed from Kaitlin Bardellini. Bardellini and Harris had a good give-and-go that resulted in Harris diving for the return ball and got her stick to it to score breaking up the shutout.
Tufts now moves to 13-6 for the season. McCluskey led all Tufts players in shots with six, but Rosenquest was right behind her with five. Seven other Jumbos recorded two shots or more on the night. Rosenquest had four points on the night with her goal and two assists. The Jumbos held a 13-3 advantage in shots on goal along with having 11 corners to Castleton's two.
Castleton ends the season with a 14-8 record and champions of the Little East Conference (LEC). Harris led all Spartans with four shots on the night. Martin recorded nine saves on the 13 shots she faced.
In their 12th NCAA appearance, the Jumbos now have a 24-11 record in NCAA play.
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Written by Ryan Daly, Athletic Communications Intern
