COLLEGE FIELD
HOCKEY FINAL SCORE
NCAA Tournament 2nd Round
Tufts 5, MIT 1
At Medford, MA
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Game
Box Score
MEDFORD -- Senior Michelle Kelly (Downingtown,
PA) scored three goals to lead the fourth-ranked Tufts
University field hockey team to a 5-1 victory over visiting MIT in
the second round of the 2009 NCAA Division III Championship on a
rainy Saturday afternoon at Bello Field.
Tufts (17-1), which had a first-round bye, advances to the third
round, where they will host Skidmore on Bello Sunday at 1:00 pm.
The Thoroughbreds were 4-3 winners against Amherst in Saturday's
other second-round game. MIT, which earned a 2-1 first-round
victory at Nichols in their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance,
finished the season at 18-5.
The Jumbos led MIT 2-0 less than four minutes into the game.
Kelly converted a rebound for a 1-0 margin at 3:01 and then tallied
her second by hitting in a bouncing pass from junior Tamara Brown (Annandale, VA) 25 seconds later at 3:26.
MIT coach Cheryl Silva called time out, and it worked. The
Engineers put some sustained pressure on the Tufts goal, including
three penalty corner opportunities. They came very close to pulling
within a goal when the ball bounced to sophomore Kameron Klauber
(Carlsbad, CA) on the right side, and she had an open goal in front
of her. However, the stick of Tufts sophomore goalie
Marianna Zak (Concord, MA) came out of nowhere to
save Klauber's quick shot.
Kelly's third goal of the half and 12th of the season with 4:42
remaining until intermission gave the Jumbos a 3-0 lead. Brown had
the assist again and would finish the game with three. Klauber had
another shot on goal at the other end that was saved late in the
half, one of seven total shots in first 35 minutes for the
Engineers. Tufts had 10, and also led the penalty corners count 6-3
at the break.
The Jumbos opened the second half quickly as well, with senior
Amanda Russo (Garden City, NY) scoring from her
position at the left post. Brown assisted the tally, which came
just under two minutes into the period for a 4-0 advantage. MIT,
who had six more shots in the second half for 13 total, broke up
the shutout on a goal by first-year Molly McShane (Lake Bluff, IL)
with an assist to classmate Kimberly Barker (Camden, NY) in the
59th minute of play. The goal was McShane's eighth of the
season.
Tufts finished the scoring with 2:41 remaining in the game on a
penalty corner. Junior Jess Perkins (Barrington,
RI) took the insertion from classmate Tess Guttadauro (Carlisle, MA) and blasted a shot into the cage
for her fifth goal of the year.
Zak finished with five saves in goal for Tufts to improve her
record to 4-1 in NCAA Tournament play overall. Junior Keri Dixon
(Bethlehem, PA) made eight saves for the Engineers, including five
in the second half. Tufts finished with a 21-13 margin in shots and
10-7 in corners.
On Sunday, Tufts will be playing to make a return trip to the
NCAA semi-finals. The Jumbos went last year and advanced to the
NCAA Championship game, losing 3-2 to Bowdoin in double
overtime.
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