MEDFORD, Mass. — The Castleton field hockey team was eliminated from the 2022 NCAA Championship tournament Wednesday evening, suffering a 4-1 loss to Tufts at Ounjian Field.
The Spartans (14-8) got their lone goal from Emily Harris as Kaitlin Bardellini provided the assist. In goal, Zoe Martin knocked away nine of the Jumbos' (13-6) 13 shots on goal.
Tufts began the contest with a trio of wayward shots before striking in the ninth minute when Kylie Rosenquest found Rachel Scrivanich for the day's first score. Castleton flooded the circle with bodies on the Jumbos' ensuing possessions to block a shot and force one wife to keep it a one-goal deficit.
Despite dealing with nagging injuries and sicknesses, the Spartans held the Jumbos off the scoreboard for the entirety of the second quarter as night fell and air grew crisp. Martin denied five attempts while the ball stayed almost exclusively in Tufts' attacking half.
Entering the second half, the Jumbos drew a corner within a minute and converted with a Rosenquest goal helped by Reegan McCluskey. The Spartans found an offensive spark in the 42nd minute. A Jumbo green card spurred power-play shots on goal from Bardellini and Harris but a defensive save and Sam Gibby denial kept the Spartans at bay. Tufts upped the score with 24 seconds to go as Rosenquest dished it to Mia D'Angelo who buried the third Jumbo score.
Martin saved three attempts in a three-minute span before the Jumbos drew a penalty stroke in the 55th minute. McCluskey fired and found paydirt, giving Tufts a 4-0 advantage with five minutes to play. Moments later, Castleton flipped the field on a breakaway opportunity. Bardellini and Harris eluded the Tufts goalie and the Crondall, England native Harris tallied her 35th goal of the year to close proceedings in Medford.
Emily Harris concluded her junior season by smashing the program's single-season records for points (87) and goals (35) while leading all of Division III in points per game for most of the year.
Kaitlin Bardellini finished her Spartan career on multiple all-time lists. The Northfield, N.H. native is second in assists (27), fifth in points per game (1.81), sixth in points (105), and seventh in goals (39, tied with Gabriella Hunt).
In head coach Emily Lowell's second season at the helm, the Spartans registered a 2022 campaign which saw them double the previous season's win total and produced the program's fourth NCAA appearance. Field hockey became the first Castleton sport to win a Little East Conference title since the department joined in 2018.
