For the second time in three years, the Tufts women's soccer team captured the NCAA New England Championship, defeating Wheaton 3-1 yesterday in Middlebury, Vt., to earn the honor. The win came on the heels of a nail-biter Saturday against Bowdoin that went to penalty kicks after 120 minutes of scoreless play. The Jumbos topped the Polar Bears 5-4 in six kicks to earn the date with Wheaton.
The win lifts Tufts' record to 16-3-1, with Saturday's game officially recorded as a tie. The Jumbos are now 5-1 in NCAA Tournament games, and will look to add to that record in the NCAA Quarterfinals this weekend, when they will play host to William Smith College, winner of the Northeast Regional.
In yesterday's game, Tufts was able to avoid its usual pattern of starting off slowly, getting the offense going right off the bat. Just two minutes into the game, the Jumbos picked their first corner kick. Junior midfielder Katie Kehrberger sent the ball into the box, finding senior tri-captain Carmen Mikacenic, who fired a shot towards the goal. That ball was deflected, but junior Lynn Cooper grabbed the rebound and slipped it into the right side of the net, giving the team a 1-0 advantage. The goal was her sixth in NCAA Tournament play.
"For a change, we actually came out fired up," coach Martha Whiting said. "It helped us that we scored in the first two minutes. That gave us a boost and some extra confidence for the rest of the game."
The lead would not hold for too long, however, as Wheaton responded with a goal of its own at 12:52. Freshman forward Christy McHugh found herself on the receiving end of a great cross from sophomore Ali Bimba, and netted the equalizer for her eighth score of the year.
Tufts was not deterred by the goal, though and capitalized on another scoring chance eight minutes later. With just under 25 minutes to play in the first period, sophomore Alle Sharlip sent a ball into the penalty area that resulted in a scramble in front of the net. Cooper ended up with possession and tapped the ball to senior tri-captain Sara Yeatman, who quickly tallied her 11th goal of the year, giving the Jumbos a 2-1 lead.
The Brown and Blue added an insurance goal early in the second half, as freshman Jess Trombly, the NESCAC Rookie of the Year, fed sophomore Elizabeth Tooley to put the Jumbos up 3-1.
The Lyons refused to go down without a fight, however, generating a number of scoring chances down the stretch. But the Tufts defense held strong to preserve the victory, with senior tri-captain Randee McArdle making five saves on the day.
"For a lot of the second half, we were under pressure," Whiting said. "They pushed some players forward, and we were trying to hold our lead. They had three corner kicks in succession, and we just fought hard and kept the ball out of the net."
The key for the Jumbos, however, was shutting down Bimba on offense. Coming into yesterday's game, she had tallied 19 goals and eight assists in just 20 matches. But Tufts was prepared, and kept her well-covered the entire game.
"[Bimba] is phenomenal, and we shut her down and kept her from scoring," Whiting said. "We played with three backs in a zone and had [freshman Jessie] Lovitz mark her man-for-man. And she marked her right out of the game. The kid basically did nothing."
Meanwhile, the rest of the defense was able to adjust well the new game strategy, keeping the rest of Wheaton's offense in check.
"They responded really well," Whiting said. "They're smart players, and we have captains at goalie, defensive back, and center-midfield. It was their leadership that carried us through. Their leadership has been great all year, and they've stepped it up during the tournament. They've been amazing."
Wheaton defeated host Middlebury Saturday 3-2 in overtime, giving Tufts a look at a new opponent instead of a third shot at the Panthers.
"We wanted the chance to play [Middlebury] in good conditions, but we were all happy that we got to face a new opponent, somebody we hadn't seen all year," McArdle said.
"I would much rather play a new team," Yeatman said. "It's more fun to play someone you haven't played before. It's a new challenge."
"In a way, it was good that we didn't play Middlebury again," Whiting added. "After watching the Wheaton-Middlebury game, I knew that, whoever we played, it was going to be a good game. Wheaton is an excellent team, and we wanted to see somebody new after having played Middlebury last weekend."
The Jumbos advanced to the regional finals with a win over Bowdoin on Saturday. The match was the third meeting between the two teams. Bowdoin took the first contest 4-1, but Tufts avenged the loss with a 3-1 victory in the semi-finals of the NESCAC Tournament last weekend.
On Saturday, the two teams, which had combined for nine goals in their previous two meetings, battled hard throughout, but neither was able to convert. Despite each side generating a number of strong chances, however, the game remained deadlocked 0-0 through the end of regulation. The two 15-minute overtime periods did nothing to change the situation, and the teams were forced to move on to penalty kicks.
"It didn't pan out like a 0-0 game," Yeatman said. "Both teams had a lot of close shots. [Bowdoin] dominated in the beginning, but we outplayed them in the second half and in overtime."
"The game was very evenly matched. Both teams were very similar skill wise," Whiting added. "The game was very back-and-forth, although, as the game wore on, we kept gaining momentum. I think that if we had kept playing, we eventually would have won."
Each team hit four of its first five penalty kicks, with Cooper, Kehrberger, Mikacenic, and sophomore Adie Sherwood scoring for Tufts, and the game moved to a sudden death format. Polar Bear midfielder Amory Bradley fired her team's sixth shot wide left, however, opening up the door for the Jumbos. Tooley took shot number six for the Jumbos, sending a low ball towards the right corner of the goal to beat Bowdoin keeper Sarah Farmer and give Tufts the win.
"I was a little nervous when we went to penalty kicks, but, at the same time, I was totally confident," McArdle said. "We had been practicing all week, and I knew that our kickers were excellent and could make their shots."
McArdle made nine saves in earning her 22nd career shutout, adding to the record she set earlier this year.
The Jumbos will now move on to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, where they will face off against William Smith College, a team they have not seen before, at home this weekend, with the day and time to be announced later this week. Tufts is 9-0 this season in games played at Kraft Field. The winner will move on to the NCAA Final Four.
"I feel like we deserve [a home game] after the last two weeks," Whiting said. "With all the traveling we've done and the weather we've endured. It's time for us to have our huge crowd cheering for us instead of someone else's cheering against us."
"All we know about [William Smith] is that they're traditionally a very strong team, and we have our work cut out for us," she said. "But it's exciting when you play someone you haven't played before."
"We're psyched," McArdle said. "We don't know anything about them, but, at this point in the season, the skill levels are all the same. It's all about the mental aspect and who wants to win more."
While Whiting would not make any predictions on the outcome of the tournament, she expressed complete confidence in her team's ability.
"The great thing about this team is that they really believe in each other and they believe in themselves," she said. "I think they can go as far as they want to go, and do as well as they want to do."
