HARTFORD, CT (November 23, 2025) – Senior
Hannah Biccard scored the game-winning goal one minute into overtime as the Tufts University field hockey team won the 2025 NCAA Division III Championship with a 2-1 victory over Johns Hopkins University at Trinity College today.
The national championship is the second for head coach
Tina Mattera and the Tufts program including 2012. The Jumbos were playing in the NCAA final for the sixth time, and their win today ended a three-game losing streak in the championship game.
With regulation ending in a 1-1 tie, the Blue Jays began the seven-on-seven overtime with possession. A strong defensive play by Tufts senior
Gabby Sousa forced a Hopkins foul and the Jumbos took over.
At the other end, first-year
Eleanor Helm was fouled just outside the JHU circle and sent the restart to senior
Camille Clarke. She got past a defender into the top of the circle, and then with another Blue Jay defending her closely she hit a back-handed shot that Biccard reached up to deflect in for the decisive goal.
The assist by Clarke was the first point of her four-year career with the Jumbos. Biccard's goal was her team-high 17th, the most by a Tufts player since 2010.
The Jumbos finished their season at 19-3, tying the school record for victories. Johns Hopkins (JHU) completed their year as the national runner-up with a 22-2 mark.
Both teams had stretches of strong possession today, starting with Tufts in the first quarter. Helm had a pair of great chances, one that was saved by JHU's Aubrey Kilgore and another that just missed high, before she scored the game's first goal. Junior
Lilly Ragusa intercepted a Blue Jay pass and got it up to Helm just over the 23-meter line. She brought it in through the left curve of the circle and slammed a shot into the far side of the goal for her 13th of the season and a1-0 Tufts lead with 4:54 on the first-quarter clock.
Hopkins would answer less than two minutes later. On a penalty corner attempt, a shot by graduate student Jenna Halpin was deflected by first-year Ava Zimmeran in the middle of the goal area. Tufts senior goalie Lydia Eastman partially blocked it, but the ball bounced to junior Eliza Vander on the goal line and she knocked it in to tie the score at 1-1 with 3:03 to go in the first.
JHU would have the better of the play in the second period, but Eastburn made two saves to keep the game tied. The Jumbos' best chance came when a two-on-one developed with Biccard and Helm, but Halpin defended the play nicely without a shot being attempted.
The Blue Jays would have the momentum in the third quarter as well, earning four corners. Eastburn made her best save of the game on an attempt by sophomore Kaitlin Coward during a corner, flashing out her right pad to make the save.
Into the fourth quarter, Blue Jay senior Megan Chang flipped a shot just wide to the right of the goal early on. Tufts would earn a corner with four seconds left in the final quarter, but fouled during the insert and missed the opportunity to send the game to overtime.
Shots were even at 8-8 for the game, with six on goal for the Jumbos and five on target by the Blue Jays. JHU had an 8-2 advantage in corners. Both Eastburn and Kilgore made four saves.
The NCAA Championship is the 16th won by Tufts teams, all since 2010.
--JUMBOS--
