Courtesy Tufts Sports Information

Box Score

MEDFORD, Mass. – Sophomore Tamara Brown (Annandale, Va.) scored on a tremendous individual effort with 5:55 remaining in overtime to give undefeated Tufts a dramatic 1-0 victory over fifth-seeded Trinity in the semifinals of the 2008 NESCAC Field Hockey Championship on Saturday afternoon at Bello Field. Tufts advances to face Bowdoin, a 4-0 winner over Middlebury.

Tufts will be playing for its first NESCAC championship. Bowdoin is seeking its fifth overall and fourth in a row. Fifth-seed Trinity (12-4) awaits a potential NCAA Tournament berth.

Tufts had dominated play during regulation, but to no avail. The Jumbos had an extraordinary 35 penalty corner opportunities in the first 70 minutes of play, but produced few quality scoring chances out of them. The Bantam defense did a fine job protecting the goal. Trinity first-year goalkeeper Gina DiNallo (West Hartford, Conn.) had six of her eight total saves in the second half when the Jumbos were awarded 24 penalty corners.

Tufts had good late opportunities off corners, but shots by junior Margi Scholtes (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Jess Perkins (Barrington, R.I.) were stopped by DiNallo. When play went to seven on seven in overtime, Trinity used its speed to produce opportunities and had its best shot of the game by sophomore Robyn Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) stopped by Jumbo first-year keeper Marianna Zak (Concord, Mass.).

With the clock winding down past the six-minute mark in overtime, Brown stick-handled through the Trinity defense to the right of the goal and fired a shot into the far side to end it. The goal extended her school-record single-season total to 22 and was her seventh game-winner of 2008. The overtime victory was Tufts’ second of the season against Trinity and third overall.

The Jumbos finished the game with advantages of 21-5 in shots and 36-6 in corners. Zak’s overtime save was her only of the game.