Tufts 1Nov2014

Rainy, cloudy, cold 40F/5C, but fans came to see our game with Tufts: Julia S's parents, Claire's grandmother, Hannah's mom+dad+sisters, Shelby's mom, many others!

Since the pitch was so wet, we spoke about making quick ground passes, as we had worked on in practice. Last year we drew 3:3 with Tufts, so we expected them to be a strong side that would provide a good game. It appeared that Tufts might have had more players at our field than we did!

We took early control of the game, and after Mel's shot on target was saved, Claire broke away to score in the 4th minute. Hannah made a critical save in the 11th minute, and Tufts had shots over the bar and one that hit the cross-bar. 

Julia S had a shot saved in the 16th minute, then Claire's shot from the left side of the field hit the side-netting. Claire had another shot over the bar in the 27th minute. 

Leah made a piercing dribble in the 35th minute into the middle of the field, fiercely tackled at the Tufts 18 yard box, awarding us a free kick taken by Rose. The Tufts GK saved Rose's kick, and Leah got her head on the rebound but it sailed over the bar.

Hannah made two more saves before the half, when we spoke about keeping it a little more simple by making the easy, close-range passes in order to keep possession.

During the first minutes of the second half, it appeared that we were doing exactly that -- we kept possession as we switched the ball across the field. Shelby got off a great shot in the 51st minute that was saved by the Tufts GK.

Amanda FC made a crucial tackle soon after that, but the tussle left her in agony with a twist to her left knee. Sarah kindly took her to DHMC. It was the last thing we wanted to have happen!

Claire took over for FC in our flat-back formation, next to Tessa, and Summer went up top where Claire was. Mel and Julia S had great shots, with one of Mel's hitting the cross-bar after Hannah made another crucial save in the 63rd minute.

Tessa made a critical tackle in the 70th minute before Mel and Shelby made excellent shots that were saved. It looked like we were the stronger team and would score again, but Tufts seemed to get new energy around the 80th minute. 

The officials awarded Tufts a free kick for a tackle we thought Tessa made legally by getting the ball first with her feet. Hannah punched the Tufts free kick out but they put the rebound into our net for the equalizer. 

After that, Tufts hit a shot off our cross-bar, and Hannah made another key save to keep us even. Rose had a shot saved in the 87th minute, and just before full time Hannah made another save, bringing her total to 6 vs Tufts 8 saves.

At 15 shots for both teams, it was a very busy game. Credit to Tufts to keep working deep into the second half, giving us a great game that we could have won, given all of our chances. But they had good chances, too. Thanks to Amanda FC, Tessa, Claire and Hannah for keeping us level!

Shelby's mom's carrot cake and the Nolans' cookies were great treats after the game! Our possibly last game of the season seemed marred by the injury to Amanda FC, jarring not only because she is such a strong player but also because we already had suffered Sarah's injury at Yale. Our thoughts went with her as she joked about how strong Rose was in carrying her off the field.

GK: Hannah
CD: FC+Tessa, Claire
OD: Julia C + Christine, Amanda W
CM: Shelby + Julia S, Elise, Summer
OM: Christyn+Sophie, Leah+Natalie
  F:  Mel+Claire, Rose, Caroline G

Shots 15:15  Saves: 6:8

3 Mel shot saved
4 Claire breakaway --> 1:0
5 Christine corner
11 Tufts shot saved
12 Tufts corner, shot over
13 Tufts shot hit cross-bar
16 Julia C shot saved
20 Claire shot side-net
22 Tufts corner
27 Claire shot over
28 Tufts corner
31 Tufts shot wide
35 Leah dribble, tackled for a free kick taken by Rose
    rebound to Leah header over
41 Tufts free kick saved for a corner
44 Tufts cross(shot?) saved
51 Shelby shot saved
54 Tufts corner, header over
55 Mel shot wide
58 Mel shot saved, Julia S shot over
63 Tufts shot saved
64 Tufts corner
67 Mel shot hit cross-bar
68 Christine corner
70 Tessa blocked a shot for a Tufts corner
72 Mel shot saved for a Christine corner
74 Shelby shot saved for a corner
78 Tufts cross, shot wide
79 Tufts shot over
80 Tufts free kick saved but scored on rebound --> 1:1
84 Tufts shot hit cross-bar, Tufts corner
86 Tufts free kick saved
87 Rose shot saved
88 Tessa blocked a shot for a Tufts corner, shot saved