The men's soccer team used two late goals to escape with a 3-1 victory at Babson College yesterday in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Tournament. After the hosts tied things up in the 73rd minute, the Jumbos rallied for two scores in the final five minutes to improve to 9-5-2 on the year and earn a date with sixth-seeded Keene State in the semifinals. The win is technically considered an upset for Tufts, which received the seventh overall seed ? much to its displeasure ? while Babson was second.
"We understood that they were seeded higher," sophomore forward Garrett Dale said. "But we felt that if we played well and things went well for us, we could win. We're confident in our abilities."
The first half of play held true to coach Ralph Ferrigno's prediction of "a one-goal game," with neither team able to get on the board.
"It was really frustrating in general," sophomore defender Rupak Datta said. "They had a few opportunities, and then we had some breakdowns in the back. Personally, I know I didn't have my best game."
Ten minutes after intermission, though, sophomore forward Garrett Dale put Tufts in the driver's seat when he headed in a corner kick from senior tri-captain David Drucker. Drucker's kick found Dale's head before it ricocheted off the left post, bounced back into the box, deflected off a Babson defender, and finally landed in the back of the net to give the Jumbos the 1-0 advantage.
"It was a head ball from about six yards out," Dale said. "But then it went off the left post, off another guy on their team and went in. He was only about one yard out."
Babson refused to roll over, however, and kept the pressure on Jumbo keeper and senior tri-captain Steve McDermid. The Beavers' break came with just a shade under 20 minutes to go in regulation, when senior captain Shaun Fitzgibbon scored a bizarre goal of his own. Fitzgibbon kicked in a loose ball while lying on his back in front of the Jumbo net to put some scare into the visitors.
"I think their goal should have been offside," Drucker said. "There was a scramble in the box and they just knocked it in. It was very controversial."
But the Brown and Blue would regain its composure before all was said and done. With four minutes to go, Drucker finished a pass from sophomore Matt MacGregor for what proved to be the game-winner. Drucker fired a one-timer that slid under the crossbar, and over the head of Babson goalie Tom Malloy. The tally is the sixth of the season for Drucker, who was recently named to the All-NESCAC first team, and 18th of his prolific career.
"A lot of the credit for this game has to go to two of the captains, Steve and Drucker," Datta said. "Steve made a lot of great saves and then Drucker scored that amazing goal. They kept the season going... it would have been their last game."
McDermid was credited with six saves on the afternoon, while his counterpart, Malloy, was forced to make eight. McDermid came up big late in the second half to squelch any hopes of a Beaver comeback when he made a diving stop on a breakaway by senior Keith Florian.
Freshman Brian Mikel closed out the scoring when he added some insurance with 1:24 to go. Mikel put the nail in the coffin on a feed from MacGregor, his second assist of the day. MacGregor now leads the team in assists with nine, while Mikel has four goals on the season, good for a share of fifth place on the team list with junior Pat Brophy.
Tufts now sits in the semifinal bracket of the ECAC New England region, opposite Keene State. The Owls advanced by virtue of a 2-0 triumph over third-seeded Amherst yesterday, much to the chagrin of the Jumbos.
"We really wanted to play Amherst again," Dale said. "Obviously, Keene State is a good team if they beat them. That's something we couldn't do in two games."
Even so, the squad remains confident. "I don't know much about Keene State," Drucker said. "But if we play the way we are capable of playing, we can beat anybody."
