The women's soccer team continued its strong season Saturday by knocking off the Trinity Bantams 3-1 in an important NESCAC match. The Jumbos received goals from three different scorers in the road victory.
"It was not our best game," freshman Jess Trombly said. "They were a rough team, but we stuck with it and pulled through. It was an important win."
Junior midfielder Becky Mann netted the game-winner, Tufts' second goal of the afternoon, five minutes into the second half, as junior midfielder Katie Kehrberger fed Mann for the tally. It was the first goal of the season and fifth of her career.
Mann took the ball from Kehrberger and drove down the right side before shooting from a poor angle on the right side of the goal. Despite the degree of difficulty, Mann slipped the ball on the far side of the net.
"It was an amazing goal," sophomore Adie Sherwood said. "She shot from a ridiculous angle."
The goal exemplified the depth of coach Martha Whiting's team, as Mann became the eleventh Jumbo to score a goal this year. Perhaps more impressively is the fact that Mann is the seventh player on the team with just one tally, showing the timely scores the Jumbos have come up with this year. In fact, Tufts' scoring is so spread out that no one on the Jumbos is in the top nine in NESCAC offensive statistics, yet the team is third in the conference.
"Coach always says that she has confidence putting anyone in from the bench," Trombly said. "I feel the same. Everybody is scoring, defenders have scored, it seems like someone new scores every game. It's important for a good team to have that."
Mann's score broke a 1-1 tie, and ended Trinity's brief hopes of a comeback. Less than two minutes into the half, Trinity's Karen O'Keefe scored her first goal of the season and Trinity's first of the game. The goal was scored on a penalty kick after O'Keefe was taken down in the box.
The Bantams had some momentum with the easy goal, but that was all shut down with Mann's score.
"It was very important to score right after they did," Trombley said. "They were up mentally, and we needed to score on them so they couldn't use their momentum."
Tufts sealed the deal as it added an insurance goal with 13 minutes to play, boosting the margin to two goals. Sophomore Cara Glassanos scored her first goal of her career off a corner, and Kehrberger grabbed her second assist of the day.
"We controlled the game after the second goal," Trombley said. "And after the third goal, it was done."
McArdle's play in net was solid again, as she let in only the penalty kick and made 12 saves. It has been her strong goalkeeping this year that has allowed the Jumbos to win as many close games as they have. The senior goalie is fourth in the NESCAC with a .95 goals against average and ten goals scored against.
Sherwood got the scoring started with a goal eight minutes before the intermission. Sherwood scored from the 18 off a touch from Alle Sharlip, another sophomore receiving extensive playing time on Whiting's squad. In fact, the two sophomores are fifth and sixth in scoring on the team, as Sherwood scored her second goal of the season.
"We have strong leadership from our senior captains," Sherwood said. "But it is good that everyone contributes, especially the younger players."
The win brings the Jumbos to 10-2 overall and 6-2 within the conference. More importantly, though, is Tufts' third place standing in the NESCAC behind Bowdoin and Middlebury, also the two blemishes on Tufts' roster. The Jumbos are guaranteed now to finish in the top seven in the conference, qualifying the team for the NESCAC's season-ending tournament - the winner of which will go on to play in the NCAA's.
"We would love to have a shot to play them [Bowdoin and Middlebury] again," Sherwood said. "We are all in the same league and we can all compete well."
Before the season ends, though, Tufts will play a non-conference home game against WPI on Thursday at 4 p.m. This will merely be a precursor to Saturday's season finale showdown with Williams. The Ephmen are 4-3 in the conference, and with a win could surpass the Jumbos and steal home field advantage in the tournament.
"We really want that home field advantage," Trombly said. "If we lose, Williams will probably get it. This is definitely one of the most important games of the season."
