For Immediate Release
September 10, 2008
Wellesley Sports Information
Story Courtesy Tufts Sports Information
Wellesley Field Hockey Falls to 14th-Ranked Tufts
Box Score
MEDFORD, Mass. -- The Wellesley College field hockey team fell to 14th-ranked Tufts University 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Bello Field. Tufts improved to 2-0 on the season, while Wellesley fell to 0-2 after opening the 2008 campaign on the road against two nationally ranked teams.
The Jumbos opened the new season by setting a school record for goals in a game with a 10-1 win over Wesleyan on Saturday. They started off against Wellesley on Wednesday by controlling possession, but were unable to capitalize. Wellesley keeper Emily Hewitt (Alexandria, VA) twice came out of the goal to smother Jumbo break-aways early in the first half.
Tufts broke through 25 minutes into the game when senior tri-captain Marlee Kutcher converted a pass from junior Amanda Russo for a 1-0 lead. Five minutes later Russo set up Kelly's first goal to put Tufts up 2-0. Sophomore Tamara Brown then scored with 2:11 remaining until halftime and the Jumbos quickly had a 3-0 advantage. Wellesley did not have a shot on goal in the first 35 minutes of play. First-year Marianna Zak made her first collegiate start in goal for Tufts, but did not have to make a save.
Russo and Kelley connected again 15 minutes into the second half for a 4-0 margin. The goal was Kelly's fifth already this season. The assist was the third of the day for Russo. Griffith scored her first collegiate goal with 16 minutes left in the second half. Wellesley broke up the shutout on a goal by sophomore Kate Cushing (Danvers, MA) with 2:39 remaining, but Griffith added one more unassisted tally with 56 seconds to play for the 6-1 final.
The Jumbos finished with advantages of 23-3 in shots and 11-2 in penalty corners. Sophomore Katie Hyder played the second half for Tufts and had one save. Hewitt finished with nine stops for the visitors.
Tufts had lost three straight games to Wellesley dating back to 2005.