The men's soccer team surrendered the winning goal with just over five minutes to play in last night's game against Plymouth State. The Jumbos fell by a 4-3 margin to the fifth-ranked team in New England after coming all the way back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the score.
Plymouth State's Brian Hanafin, a freshman midfielder, gathered up a loose ball in the box and ripped a shot that sailed past Jumbo goalie Steve McDermid and caromed off the of the right goal post, before finding a spot in the back of the net.
"We had an opportunity to clear before he got the ball," coach Ralph Ferrigno said afterwards. "I'm not sure how the play unfolded."
It was a sudden occurrence, especially considering that the Jumbos had tied the score 15 minutes earlier, with the game played at a slow, back-and-forth pace until the final tally. As the time in regulation ticked off, it appeared as though the Jumbo comeback would be successful, and the teams would head into overtime. But it was a defensive mistake that lead to the deciding strike.
In fact, it was defensive mistakes that cost the Jumbos all day, as Ferrigno attributed all four Panther goals to errors on the back line.
"All four goals were on giveaways," the coach said. "We were generous at the back. They were just mistakes."
It was the Jumbos who struck first in the match, as sophomore forward Matt MacGregor took a chip from sophomore defenseman Rupak Data and streaked past the Plymouth State defense before tucking a ground ball into the right corner of the goal.
It was MacGregor's third goal of the season, and put him in the team lead for points with nine. The strike came with 13 minutes remaining in the half, and though the Jumbos were in the lead, it was still anyone's game, as both teams made strong pushes after the MacGregor goal.
A minute later, MacGregor headed a corner kick, but the ball hit the post and was cleared away. A few plays later, sophomore Alfred Burris touched to MacGregor, who got past the goalie but couldn't control the ball and had it headed away.
The Panthers weathered the Jumbo storm, and broke through the defense with nine minutes to play in the half. After a Jumbo penalty, Plymouth State chipped the ball into the zone, where Garry Thomson, a junior midfielder and one of Plymouth's seven international players, one-touched the ball past McDermid.
It appeared as though the Jumbos would end the half with a tie, but, with 1:40 to play, Plymouth's Simon Sendowski broke through the defense and drew a penalty kick. The resulting PK was no contest, and the Panthers had a 2-1 cushion.
The Panthers tacked another goal on quickly after the half, as a throw in deep in the Jumbo zone was deflected by Plymouth's leading scorer, Antione Miboueyi, to Thomson, who netted his second of the day.
"We're a youthful team, and when they scored at the start of the period, we showed tremendous heart and spirit," Ferrigno said. "It was always in the cards to pull it back to even."
Pull it back is exactly what the Jumbos did, as they answered with 31 minutes still to play. The game's intensity began to grow as a rain storm pounded the players, but sophomore Garrett Dale, who was playing with a sprained ankle, was undeterred. Taking a cross from senior tri-captain David Drucker, the 6-1 forward headed a ball into the left corner.
"He made a nice pass and I put it in the corner," Dale said.
The Jumbos refused to go away, getting the equalizer with 23 minutes remaining. MacGregor got a pass from Dale, and headed the ball back to Dale. The pretty give-and-go resulted in a one-on-one between Dale and Plymouth's netminder Brad Wilby, an easy matchup for Dale, who tallied his second goal of the game.
"Matt and I worked real well together," Dale said. "Better than in the past."
Though the Jumbos pulled back to even, they could not hold the lead.
"Our youth showed again at the end of the game," Ferrigno said. "We stopped playing as hard."
The Jumbos, ranked ninth in the region, will be unaffected in the NESCAC rankings, where they currently sit fifth, because Plymouth is out of the conference. However, Tufts will have to bounce back from a disappointing loss and play Bowdoin on the road this coming Saturday. The match will be crucial for the Jumbos, as the Bears are the third-ranked team in the NESCAC. Ferrigno thinks his team will be ready.
"We have to look to the next game," he said. "We have to pick ourselves up off the floor."
