Field Hockey Tops Tufts in Overtime

Author: Tom McCann

The Middlebury women's field hockey juggernaut rolled into Tufts last Saturday, putting its 11-game winning streak on the line in the last road game of the season. Last year, the Panthers were extremely successful at home, while their form away from the immaculate turf of the Peter Kohn Field here at Middlebury was their Achilles heel. This year, with one away game to go, Middlebury was still perfect home and away and was looking to continue that success by getting the win just outside of Boston.

Middlebury had expected a tough game from Tufts as Becca Brakeley '03.5 commented, "Several of the losses that they have suffered have been by a single goal and many of them in overtime, so we knew they were going to be good." A tough game was exactly what the Panthers got too, with the Jumbos taking the lead in the first half. It took just nine minutes though before Char Glessner '04 popped up to level for Middlebury with a goal following a scramble in front of the net. As the game continued, Middlebury dominated the possession and seemed to adapt to the bumpy, grassy surface with little problem. Slick ball movement, short passing and a team effort combined to put the Panthers in position to get the winning goal, but were denied every time.

For the first time this season, the Panthers were forced into overtime which consists of two sudden death, 15-minute periods of 7-7 field hockey. Both teams had opportunities to win the game, but great team defense by Middlebury ensured that Meg McGillan '07 was never really threatened in goal. With time winding down in the first period of overtime, Tufts had a series of short corners, which it failed to capitalize on and in games as close as this one, the result is often decided by the team that is able to take its chances when presented to them. After surviving the Tufts onslaught, Middlebury were then able to brake away with a fast paced counter-attack that earned them a chance to steal the game. With the seconds ticking by, the game moved into the final minute when Middlebury worked a short corner to Glessner, and cometh the hour cometh the woman. She beat one woman before firing an initial shot that was saved by the Tufts goalkeeper, and then had the presence of mind to pounce on the rebound first to find the back of the net. As she has been on countless occassions this sesaon, Glessner was in the right place at the right time to score when Midlebury needed it most.

Middlebury celebrated the team victory that took them to a perfect 12-0 this season, but personal accolades were also in order for the game-winner, Glessner. As well as taking her personal career points tally to 100, the third best in Panther history, she was also awarded NESCAC Player of the Week. This all came at the same time as Middlebury became the number-one Division III field hockey team in the nation, displacing The College of New Jersey after they suffered a surprise defeat.

After a game against Rensselaer yesterday, the Panthers will take on Connecticut College in their last regular season game on Saturday. Last year, Connecticut College surprised Middlebury by winning in overtime and so hopefully lessons will have been learnt from that game. As the game against Tufts demonstrated, any team in the NESCAC has the potential to beat any other and so Middlebury will need to stay on top of its game from here on in.

As for staying perfect, Brakeley is confident that the women have their feet well and truly on the ground: "There's no real pressure being 12-0, we're just trying to focus on the next game and take it from there." The next game for Middlebury is the last regular season game, and after that is the NESCAC Championships followed by the NCAA Championships. If the Panthers are to bring home a national championship, their unbeaten record will have to survive some tough tests in the next few weeks, but Middlebury don't seem to be letting up and that can only be bad news for the rest of the competition.