The Tufts women's soccer team suffered its third loss of the season yesterday, dropping the final game of the NESCAC Tournament 2-0 to the number-one seed Middlebury Panthers. The Jumbos, who began the tournament ranked 21st in the country, advanced to the finals by defeating Bowdoin 3-1 in the semi-final round. The split left Tufts with a 14-3 record, extending the team's record-setting mark for wins in a season.
Despite the loss, Tufts remained in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament bid. The 45-team tournament features 32 conference chamions, seven independent schools, and six at-large teams. The Jumbos got the call from the NCAA late last night, and learned that they earned an invitation to the tournament, which will begin Tuesday. Tufts will host the University of New England, it's first-round opponent, Wednesday afternoon at 1p.m. Bowdoin also received a bid, and will play Wheaton in the first round.
"I'm completely psyched. I was a little shocked, but I'm really excited," coach Martha Whiting said. "I'm happy for the seniors, too, because I know how much they wanted it."
Sunday, the two teams opened up the game trading scoring opportunities in the windy, blizzard-like Vermont weather.
"The conditions were terrible for both teams [on Sunday]," senior tri-captain Carmen Mikacenic said. "We were basically playing in the middle of a snowstorm, and people on both sides were sliding all over the place."
"You can't blame the weather, but it kind of evened things out," Whiting said. "There was at least an inch on the field, and it felt like six. When you play in weather like that, it slows down the pace of the game. That happened [yesterday], and we couldn't use our speed to our advantage."
The Jumbos nearly took an early lead six minutes in when junior Lynn Cooper fired a shot from inside the box. Ali Connolly, the Middlebury keeper, made a diving stop to keep the game scoreless.
The Panthers had an equally promising scoring chance soon after, as junior midfielder Haley Holmer intercepted a pass and banged a near-miss off the crossbar in the 19th minute.
Middlebury finally did capitalize in the 30th minute, when senior midfielder Molly Holmberg knocked in the rebound of a shot by sophomore forward Leah Cumsky-Whitlock. Sophomore striker Meg Bonney extended the Panther lead to two less than five minutes later, firing a shot off a post, catching the rebound, and then slipping the ball into the net.
"[Middlebury] scored two terrible goals," Mikacenic said. "They were both on melees in front of the net - they weren't on good chances at all."
"It was really slippery, which made it hard for the defenders to stay on their feet and hold onto the ball," Whiting said. "But we have to give Middlebury credit. They're a good team, and they played really hard."
The Middlebury defense, which has not allowed a goal since Oct. 3, held the Tufts attack at bay during the second half, securing the 2-0 victory. With the win, the Panthers clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
A day earlier, Tufts was able to avenge one of its two regular season losses with a 3-1 win over Bowdoin in Saturday's semi-final round of the tournament. Bowdoin had dealt Tufts its second loss of the season, defeating the Jumbos 4-1 in Maine on Oct. 7.
"Bowdoin was probably one of the best games we've played," Whiting said. "They may have underestimated us a little bit. Usually, we have had trouble playing hard at the beginning, and it takes us a while to get revved up, but Saturday we played hard from the beginning."
The Polar Bears, who entered the game ranked third in the country, took the lead early on with a goal in the 13th minute. Molly Perencevich finished off a push with a corner pass to Alison Lavoie, who sent the ball to the bottom right corner of the net to put Bowdoin up, 1-0.
"When they scored, it really fired us up," Whiting said, "and we came out and scored two in the first half. I still felt pretty calm after their goal. I saw the way we were playing, and I thought we're going to be fine; we're going to win the game."
The Jumbos evened the score midway through the period. Mikacenic headed a ball into the box off a corner kick, where sophomore Cara Glassanos finished it off to even the score at one. The goal was the second of the year for Glassanos, while the assist was Mikacenic's first.
The Brown and Blue took the lead less than two minutes later, as junior Lynn Cooper drove through the penalty area and blasted in her sixth goal of the season.
"I've been telling the forwards to shoot the ball when you have the opportunity," Whiting said. "That's what she did. It was an amazing goal."
Cooper added a second tally at 62:17, taking a cross from freshman Jess Trombly and heading it once straight up, and then once again into the net. The goal gives her 18 points on the season, second only to senior tri-captain Sara Yeatman, who has 23 on ten goals and three assists.
"We played probably the best game we've played all season against Bowdoin," Mikacenic said. "We worked together as a team. We played with speed, and our goals were absolutely quality."
With the win over Bowdoin, the Jumbos made a strong argument for one of the six at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament, and the victory paid off, earning Tufts both an invitation to the tournament and the right to host its first-round game.
"I'm really glad we're playing at home because this weekend was really long with all the traveling," Whiting said. "It'll be good for our players to be at home this week."
Should the Jumbos defeat the University of New England, they will travel to Middlebury once again this weekend to battle it out for the NCAA Regional Championship. The winner will play again the following weekend for a spot in the Tournament's Final Four, which will take place Nov. 18-19.
