Medford, Mass. - Sophomore Tamara Brown (Annandale, VA) scored
the game's only goal with 5:55 remaining in overtime to give the
undefeated and second-ranked Tufts University field hockey team a
dramatic 1-0 victory over ninth-ranked Trinity College in the
NESCAC Tournament semi-finals on Saturday afternoon at Bello Field.
Top seed Tufts (16-0) advances to the conference championship
game on Sunday at noon against Bowdoin. The Polar Bears defeated
Middlebury, 4-0, in the other semi-final match. Tufts will be
playing for its first NESCAC championship. Bowdoin is seeking its
fifth overall and fourth in a row. Fifth-seed Trinity (12-4) awaits
a potential NCAA Tournament berth.
Tufts had an extraordinary 35 penalty corner opportunities in
the first 70 minutes of play, but produced few quality scoring
chances out of them. The Bantam defense did a fine job protecting
the goal. Trinity first-year goalkeeper Gina DiNallo (West
Hartford, CT) had six of her eight total saves in the second half
when the Jumbos were awarded 24 penalty corners.
Tufts had good late opportunities off corners, but shots by
junior Margi Scholtes (Grosse Pointe, MI) and Jess Perkins
(Barrington, RI) were stopped by DiNallo. When play went to seven
on seven in overtime, Trinity used its speed to produce
opportunities and had its best shot of the game by sophomore Robyn
Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) stopped by Jumbo first-year keeper
Marianna Zak (Concord, MA).
With the clock winding down past the six-minute mark in
overtime, Brown stick-handled through the Trinity defense to the
right of the goal and fired a shot into the far side to end it. The
goal extended her school-record single-season total to 22 and was
her seventh game-winner of 2008. The overtime victory was Tufts'
second of the season against Trinity and third overall.
The Jumbos finished the game with advantages of 21-5 in shots
and 36-6 in corners. Zak's overtime save was her only of the game.
box score