On Wednesday night, the field hockey team went scoreless in a 3-0 loss to Wellesley College. The Jumbos' setback was their third in a row - their longest losing streak since 1991.
Tufts has yet to score a goal this season, but team members hope to set aside their frustrations as they prepare for this weekend's crucial match against Colby College. "Basically they flat out beat us," senior defender Liesl Bradford said of the Wellesley game. "What they did and what we failed to do was move to the ball."
Wellesley jumped to an early lead in the first half when junior Marret Arfsten scored the first of her two goals, 29:40 into the game. That goal turned out to be game winner.
Tufts had several scoring opportunities throughout the half, but could not find the net. Despite its experience, the team continues to suffer from the same problem as last season - capitalizing on offensive opportunities. On Wednesday, senior tri-captain Lindsay Lionetti had several promising shots on goal that were stopped, and her teammates failed to rebound them. "We're getting the initial shots off, but the support around the circle was not there," Bradford said.
Wellesley's Arfsten found the net for the second time with 12 minutes left in the first half, leaving Tufts with a 2-0 deficit heading into the second half. The Jumbos failed to step up. "We were very shaky in the second half," Bradford said. "We changed our lineup and things just weren't going smoothly."
Coach Carol Rappoli altered the Jumbos' newly formulated lineup of 3-2-3-2 to a 3-3-3-1 partway into the second half. The new formation seemed to work well for Tufts, but the team could not score. Wellesley's offense, meanwhile, was fluid throughout the contest. Junior Betsy Masiello connected on her team's final goal off an assist from Arfsten with 6:20 left in the game.
Junior goalkeeper Lauren Rufino made 12 saves in the Tufts cage, including seven in the second half, while Wellesley first-year goalkeeper Caitlin Andrews made six saves in the shutout.
The squad's obvious strength thus far - though perhaps not reflected in the score of its most recent game - is its defense. "We have a solid defense," Bradford said. "It's not of question of skill for us right now. It's a question of people getting used to playing new positions."
Junior Ursula Stahl led the Tufts defense through the first three games until she was injured in the squad's match-up against Middlebury, when Stahl was hit in the hand in the second half, and suffered severe bruising and swelling. Injuries are becoming a trend. Including Stahl's injury, the team has already suffered from three injuries since the season's start last Thursday. Bradford took a ball to the eye last Thursday and sat out the Middlebury game, while senior tri-captain Christina Orf suffered from a calf ailment in the opener against Bentley that forced her to miss crucial minutes in that game.
Bradford and Orf are back to full throttle, but it remains unclear whether Stahl will return to the field this weekend.
Though the Jumbos have lost three times this season, two of the losses were against non-conference opponents and will not hurt the team's NESCAC standing. The Jumbos face their second NESCAC foe on Saturday when they travel to Maine to play Colby College.
The White Mules, ranked second in the NESCAC division with a 2-0 record, are a historically talented squad. Last year, the Mules put up a strong fight against Tufts in the Jumbos' 2-1 double overtime win.
