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Teams: Field Hockey: Team
Overview
The Tufts University Field Hockey program is making great strides
under Coach Tina McDavitt. After three straight losing seasons prior to
McDavitts arrival, the Jumbos have won 29 games and advanced to the top
of the competitive New England Small College Athletic Conference in the
three years since.
Tufts enjoyed its best season in nearly a decade last fall. The team
won 11 games (most since 1998), defeated nationally-ranked Division II
opponent Bentley College and earned a home-field berth into the
conference tournament. The Jumbos advanced to the NESCAC tournament
final four for the second time in three years and are anxious to
continue their forward progress in the league.
The team has made a dramatic improvement offensively under McDavitt.
In 2004 the Jumbos scored more goals (32) than any Tufts team since
1996. They topped that mark last season with 35 goals. Always strong on
defense, the Jumbo program has kept pace under McDavitt with 20 shutouts
in three seasons.
A 2000 Boston University graduate, McDavitt was hired as the sixth
coach in the 34-year history of Tufts Field Hockey in June 2004. At BU,
she was a four-year standout and captain of the 1999 team. She led the
Terriers to an undefeated America East Conference championship that
season. An assistant at Holy Cross prior to Tufts, McDavitt won two
Massachusetts state championships with the Walpole High School team in
1994 and 1995. She was the Regional Coaching Director for USA Field
Hockey's Futures Program from 2003-06.
Still an active player, McDavitt played for US Field Hockey's
national indoor team that won the silver medal at the Pan Am Games in
December 2005. This summer she was one of 22 New England players
selected to compete at USA Field Hockey's High Performance Training
Center National Championship Tournament in June.
Tufts also opened a new field turf stadium, Bello Field, in 2004 and
has excelled at the facility. The Jumbos were 9-1 on the Bello turf last
year and are 19-5 there since it opened. Last year's team featured third
team All-American Stacey Watkins, the first Jumbo to receive national
recognition since the 2000 seasons. Forward Michelle Kelly was voted as
the NESCAC Rookie of the Year after scoring 11 goals, tied for
fourth-most in the conference.
The team's success under McDavitt has added to the winning history of
a Tufts program that was established in 1974. The team enjoyed many
successes with former coach Carol Rappoli at the helm. Her teams won 155
games in 19 seasons, made NCAA Tournament appearances in 1998 and 1995,
and won ECAC championships in 1996 and 1989.
Members of the NESCAC, Tufts plays in the nation's most competitive
small college conference academically and athletically. The NESCAC is a
group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities that
share an academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate athletics. Tufts
was a recipient of the 2006 NFHCA National Academic Team Award as a
program with better than a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.
Additionally, 11 Jumbos were named to the NFHCA National Academic Squad
with grade point averages of 3.3 or better during the Fall 2006
semester.
Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded
collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque
small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with "an unprecedented
diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff, and bright and
talented students," according to President Lawrence S. Bacow. The
Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28 sports that is
among the most competitive in the NCAA's Division III. Tufts finished
sixth in the 2006 U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup, the award
presented annually to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in
the country. The University's proximity to a world-class city renowned
for its academic institutions is also a major draw.
Ten players who started games are back for Tufts in
07. Kelly and All-Conference senior Ileana Casellas-Katz lead a veteran
offensive group this fall. Juniors Brittany Holiday and Tess Jasinksi
have also been key contributors to the offense. Senior Katie Pagos leads
a talented defensive group that includes Jennie Williamson, Marlee
Kutcher and Emma Kozumbo.
Dana Panzer and Craig Rowe will be McDavitt's assistant coaches
again. A three-year starter for the Jumbos, Panzer set the teams
single-season scoring record with 33 points in 2004. She scored two
unassisted second-half goals to lead the North Squad to a 3-1 victory
over the South Squad in the NFHCA Division III Senior All-Star game.
Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Rowe played Division I and State
Representative hockey. He is currently the Regional Coaching Director
for the Futures Program in Massachusetts. Throughout the summer he
directs and coaches at the Champions Edge Camps under Princeton coach
Kristen Holmes-Winn.
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