BREAKING OUT: Mary Travers, middle, goes after the ball in postseason action this past fall for the Tufts University field hockey team. Junior star Travers, a former Princeton Day School standout, helped Tufts advance to the NCAA Division III title game where the Jumbos fell to Messiah on penalty strokes after the teams played to a scoreless tie through regulation and overtime. Travers enjoyed a breakout season in 2016, tallying nine goals and eight assists, earning first team All-New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and second-team All-American honors along the way. (Photo by Anna Miller/Tufts)

Disappointed by how things went in her sophomore season with the Tufts University field hockey team in 2015, Mary Travers was hungry to step up this past fall.

“I was injured a little bit and I didn’t have as good a season as I thought I could have,” said Travers, a former Princeton Day School standout who had one assist for the Jumbos in 2015 after scoring four goals in her freshman campaign.

“I was fortunate to be living and working in Boston this summer, which meant there was a ton of pickup around and I was working out at the gym with my teammates. I was really determined to try to contribute more on the field and have a greater impact there because I thought I could do it.”

Travers ended up making a huge contribution this fall, tallying nine goals and eight assists to help Tufts advance to the NCAA Division III title game, earning first team All-New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and second-team All-American honors along the way.

Heading into the fall, Travers didn’t envision the Jumbos emerging as a national title contender.

“We lost in the NESCAC quarterfinals both years and we never made it to NCAAs,” said Travers.

“It was sort of hard to imagine what that would be like or how much work that would take coming in. Our captains, Nicole (Arata) and Dom (Zarrella), were super determined. They had made NCAAs in their freshman year, they knew what it takes, they knew what they wanted. They were so laser focused on it and they set those expectations coming into the season.”

Travers’ work paid dividends early on as she tallied two assists in the season-opening 2-0 win at Colby and then had two goals and an assist in an 8-0 victory over Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the fifth game of the fall.

“I hadn’t scored since freshman year so there was definitely a little bit of a confidence issue with that,” said Travers.

“After I scored my first goal this season, I knew I could do it and I had the proof.”

The Tufts attack proved potent as the team averaged 2.8 goals a game in going 19-3.

“Two of our three seniors were forwards,” added Travers. “We had a lot of upperclassmen as forwards, which made the offense really strong.”

Suffering two defeats early in October, falling 3-2 in overtime to Amherst and getting edged 1-0 by Connecticut College, helped Tufts get stronger mentally.

“I think any good team needs a couple of really hard losses,” said Travers.

“The double OT loss to Amherst was really bitter. In the last few years we have lost to them in the regular season and then beat them postseason so it is always a tossup. Connecticut College really shocked us. They came out to play, it was their senior day. We probably didn’t come in as prepared as we should have. That was another really, really important wakeup call that propelled us throughout the rest of our season.”

Rolling through the NESCAC tournament, outscoring its foes 10-1 in three games on the way to the title, helped propel Tufts into the NCAA tourney.

“Having seen those teams previously in the season, we had watched a lot of film, we knew what our strengths and weaknesses against them were,” said Travers.

“I think the biggest thing is that we all believed that we could win NESCAC and go all the way; that mentality was really crucial.”

The Jumbos showed their strength in the NCAA competition from the start, beating University of New England 2-0 in the second round to get their run started.

“We were definitely more excited than nervous; it was too special an opportunity to waste being nervous on,” said Travers, reflecting on the team’s mindset heading into the national tournament.

“You just have to put it all out there because at that point, that is the only game you have left. The only game you are guaranteed is that one. There is no point in looking past the first round or the second round or the quarterfinal because that is all there is so it is just leaving everything on the field after those 70 minutes and hoping you get another.”

Travers left everything on the field against New England, tallying a goal and an assist in her NCAA tourney debut.

“I was just so excited, we had talked about the NCAAs for three years and we finally got in,” added Travers.

“We were hosting and we have our brand new beautiful field, everything was really coming together. Anybody in the NCAA tournament is good so to be able to come out and win 2-0 was so fun.”

Grinding out 1-0 wins against Skidmore in the NCAA quarterfinals and Salisbury in the semifinals landed Tufts in the national title game against Messiah.

“Our defense was absolutely phenomenal this whole season; it propelled us to the success that we had,” said Travers. “I think it was just determination that we had to score and not be scored on.”

The defense held the fort in a thrilling championship game which saw the foes knotted in a scoreless tie through regulation and overtime.

“We are trying not to be nervous, there were fans everywhere,” said Travers.

“It was really exciting, there was actually a blizzard up in Geneva which added to the drama. You talk about you are guaranteed only one more game. That was as far as we could have gone, that was the last possible game of the season. We were trying to have the best form we could; we had done it 20 or so times before that and we wanted to play our game.”

Although Messiah ended up prevailing on penalty strokes, Travers had no qualms with how Tufts performed in the final.

“Both our team and Messiah hit crossbars during the game; we both had our opportunities,” said Travers.

“What our coach (Tina McDavitt Mattera) said at the end of the day is that is how a championship game should be played. It was a complete battle until the very end, a huge amount of respect for Messiah to finish it out. It was extremely disappointing but it was a crazy game; it was really back and forth.”

In Travers’ view, a special unity among the Tufts players helped it seize opportunity this fall.

“I think a huge part of it was the camaraderie; not that we were all best friends off the field and I don’t think you have to be,” said Travers, who was joined on the Tufts squad by former PDS teammate Niki Van Manen, a sophomore defender.

“In terms of mutual respect, from a senior down to a freshman who doesn’t get off the bench, I think everybody was treated as equal. They just felt like they were part of the team and everyone has their role, whether your role is to score the game winning goal or your role is to be cheering as loud as you can on the sideline and making it a super-inclusive atmosphere.”

The team chemistry played a huge role in the individual success and accolades achieved by Travers in 2016.

“It is exciting to be recognized for those things but absolutely it goes out to my team because even if I was the one to score the goal or do whatever the situation was, it is because of the other 10 people on the field,” said the 5’11 Travers, who starred at ice hockey and lacrosse in addition to field hockey during her PDS career.

“I think another thing that made us so good is that we didn’t have one superstar that the other team could just shut down. Everybody could step up. Even amongst our forwards, the scoring is pretty evenly distributed relatively so there is no single threat which made us extremely dangerous from a lot of different angles.”

Looking ahead to her senior year, Travers is hoping for an exciting finale.

“I think the offseason is a great time to be frustrated and let that fuel our training and not to forget about it,” said Travers, an art history and French major who will be spending the spring semester in Paris.

“If we walk into preseason next year talking about getting to the national championship, it is going to be really hard to get there. It is really just taking it one game at a time. We are graduating three incredible seniors but we are also only graduating three people so that is a good sign. We have a lot of returners and a lot of people to set the tone for the incoming freshmen next year.”