Tufts picked up its initial NESCAC victory against one conference loss while Wesleyan fell to 0-2 in NESCAC play as the Jumbos won for the 26th time in 31 all-time meetings with the Cardinals, 9-7. Tufts is now 3-1 overall this year while Wesleyan stands 2-3.

As with the previous six meetings between these two teams, the game came down to the wire. Each game between Wesleyan and Tufts has been decided by three goals or less since 2002. Wesleyan captured a 12-9 victory in Medford, Mass. last year. This time Tufts used a four-goal burst during a six-minute span of the first half to get the upper hand in breaking away from a 2-2 tie.

Junior Chrissie Attura gave Tufts the lead for good at 16:10 of the first period, running off the right side for her fourth goal of the season. At 11:44, she did much the same but added a spin to the middle to make it 4-2 for Tufts. After just 25 seconds, the Jumbos made it 5-2 on junior Courtney Thomas' team-leading 13th goal of the year. Sophomore Emily Johnson capped the rally at 10:12 on her eighth goal of the campaign with a good run on the right, switch of grip to the inside and shot over her head. The teams traded goals into a 7-3 halftime score.

Wesleyan got some momentum at the start of the second half when freshman Allie Lynch scored twice within :54, both on great feeds from junior Schuyler Swenson on the left side, to make it a 7-5 game with 26:21 to go. The teams played the next 10 minutes scoreless before Johnson netted her second goal of the game for Tufts and it proved to be the game-winner, making the score 8-5 at 16:18. Senior Sophia Kim completed her hat trick for Wesleyan at 9:11, again making it a two-goal game.

Wesleyan had several possession with a chance to cut it to a single-goal gap, but Tufts defended well and eventually added a key junior Maya Shoham goal at 4:55, her 11th this season. Sophomore Charlotte Hastings closed out the scoring for Wesleyan at 4:22 and again, the Cardinals had chances with the ball but could not capitalize. Wesleyan's last possession came with 41 seconds left after Tufts had run off more than a minute before being called for offsides. Wesleyan lost the ball with :20 to go and Tufts ran out the clock.

2008-03-22