Sawyer's 22 Saves Not Enough as Field Hockey Falls to #3 Tufts

MEDFORD, Mass. -- Wellesley senior goalkeeper Sarina Sawyer recorded 22 saves, but it wasn't enough to keep the Jumbos from grabbing a 6-0 home-field win over the Blue. 

Though sustaining continued pressure, the Jumbos were denied by Sawyer on several key occasions and were only able to rack up three goals before the half.

It was senior Tamara Brown who characteristically broke the seal for the Jumbos—converting on a feed from sophomore Lia Sagerman to put Tufts up 1-0. Not soon after, classmate Melissa Burke wailed a shot from the left side of the striking circle to stretch the lead to two at 12:08 in the first.

The Jumbos would strike once more just before intermission when freshman Chelsea Yogerst collected senior co-captain Amanda Roberts' rebound off of Sawyer's pads to close out the half at 1:47.

Missed opportunities continued to add up for the Jumbos while Wellesley began to creep into their offensive end. But, after an aggressive play by Sawyer to deny a 1-on-1 from sophomore Missy Karp, a penalty stroke was awarded. Brown stepped up and sent the ball into the left side of the open net.

On the next play, however, Karp refused to be taken down and dodged Sawyer to lay the ball in behind her. Sagerman collected the pass and slammed it home. 

Sagerman would end the scoring for Tufts at 11:50 as she completed a fast break passing combination with a goal off of Yogerst's assist.

As the clock wound down under 10 minutes, the Blue began to threaten Tufts' rotating defenders by earning their first penalty corner. And then, on their last offensive possession of the game, Wellesley sophomore Allison Robbins received the insert on the team's fourth and final penalty corner. Winding up with a clear path to the goal, Robbins sent a hard ball in that rattled the left post and deflected away from the goal.

Tufts finished outshooting the Blue 36-4, with only a slight advantage in corners, 8-4—with all of the Jumbos' coming in the first half. Freshman goalkeeper Katie Stuntz finished with two saves on the Blue's only two shots on goal while junior starter Marianna Zak faced no shots during her time.

The Jumbos return to action on Saturday when they travel to Colby. Wellesley next plays on Saturday, October 16th when they welcome Smith College for a 1:00pm game.

Courtesy Tufts Sports Information