MEDFORD, MA (September 14, 2024) – All-American
Andrea DelGiudice scored three goals and two assists to lead the #8 Tufts University field hockey team to a 6-2 win against Colby College in the Jumbos' home opener at Ounjian Field today.
It's the most goals in a game for Tufts (2-1, 1-1 NESCAC) since October 25, 2021 in a 6-0 victory against Connecticut College. Colby (2-1, 1-1) took its first loss of the season.
The teams were tied 1-1 at halftime before the Jumbos scored twice in the third quarter to build a 3-1 lead. The Mules pulled within 3-2 early in the fourth, but Tufts ran away with it scoring three times in the final six minutes.
After a scoreless first quarter, Colby was the first team on the scoreboard with sophomore Bridget Everett's goal five minutes into the second frame. After junior Elizabeth Takoodis deflected a shot that Tufts junior goalie
Lydia Eastburn saved, Everett was there to sweep the rebound into an empty cage for the Colby lead.
Tufts tied the score six minutes later during a penalty corner chance. The insert from the right side by senior
Kayleigh McDonald went to junior
Hannah Biccard up top. She sent it down to senior
Kylie Rosenquest on the right side, who moved it along to DelGiudice in the heart of the circle. Her shot split the Colby goalie and a defender to tie the score.
Biccard would get her first of the season to give Tufts the lead just two minutes into the second half. First-year
Eleanor Luft neatly sent a back-handed pass that narrowly avoided a Colby defender to senior
Claire Gavin at the top of the circle. She turned and fed a wide-open Biccard in front of the cage, and she got her shot around Colby goalie Opal O'Rourke and inside the left post for a 2-1 margin.
Four minutes later Tufts took a 3-1 advantage. After Colby turned the ball over during a clearing attempt, Jumbo sophomore
Katarina Villa's pass was deflected to DelGiudice inside the right curve of the circle. She turned and fired it to the front of the net where a closely-defended Rosenquest collected it and stuck a back-handed shot inside the left post.
The Jumbo momentum was stemmed early in the fourth when Colby junior Lily Harrington scored during a corner. After inserting the ball, Harrington went to the left post and knocked one in out of the air after it deflected off senior teammate Casey Winslow.
Tufts regained its two-goal lead after earning a corner while playing with an advantage due to a Colby yellow card. A shot off the insert by Jumbo senior
Lainie Pearson perfectly deflected to DelGiudice on the left side and she scored her second of the game with 4:19 remaining in regulation.
DelGiudice would get her hat trick barely a minute later by finishing off some excellent passing by the Jumbos on a corner. The insert by McDonald to Pearson was passed to the right to junior
Gabby Sousa. She sent the ball across to DelGiudice in the left side of the circle and she lifted her shot into the cage for her first collegiate hat trick.
Biccard finished things off for Tufts with her second goal of the game a minute later. On a restart, Jumbo junior
Camille Clarke found DelGiudice at the top of the circle. She sent the ball down to Biccard whose shot deflected off a Colby defender and in. In all, Tufts scored three times in 2:10 of fourth-quarter action.
With her three goals and two assists, DelGiudice recorded a career-high eight points in the game. Biccard (four points) and Rosenquest (three points) also had multi-point games for the Jumbos. Eastburn made four saves in the Tufts net.
Tufts out-shot Colby 26-9, with O'Rourke stopping nine balls in the Colby cage. The Jumbos finished with a 10-4 advantage on corners too.
A busy weekend continues for Tufts tomorrow when they host NESCAC action against Connecticut College starting at noon.
--JUMBOS--
