A final record of 8-7 was not what coach Martha Whiting had in mind for her team as it began the year ranked second in the country. Coming off the most successful season in Jumbo history, the women's soccer team had lofty goals for its 2001 campaign. But from the beginning, nothing seemed to go as expected.
"In this game, there's such a fine line between being really great and just being okay," Whiting said. "Even last year, there wasn't really that much of a difference between us and everyone else. But there's so much in your control that to say that it just wasn't meant to be is a little bit of a cop-out. We had the desire to win, but I think when it came down to it, sometimes the other team maybe was a little more determined."
That happened from the start, when the team dropped its opening game against Babson, 4-1, with senior goalkeeper Mara Schanfield receiving a red card in the first half. Freshman Meg McCourt was forced to take over in her first collegiate game, and the Beavers took advantage, scoring three goals on the rookie. But Tufts righted the ship quickly after the loss, and McCourt earned the first shutout of her career in a 2-0 decision over Wesleyan.
The Jumbos were then given their first tough conference challenge against Middlebury, the only NESCAC team they had not beaten in 2000. In what became a disappointing trend through the first few weeks of the season, Tufts started off slowly in the first half, and was down 1-0 at the break. But the team came storming back in the second half, lighting up the scoreboard with three goals, as Tufts won 3-1. Junior midfielder Alle Sharlip sparked the offense with two of the scores and earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors.
"One of the highlights of our season was our win against Middlebury," senior co-captain Lynn Cooper said. "It was in the second half of that game that we realized our potential and let other teams know that this was a different season from last year but we were still going to put up a fight."
The team followed up with another 3-1 win, this time over Connecticut College, scoring twice in the first nine minutes to help shake off the first half sluggishness.
"At the beginning, there were issues regarding initial intensity, but towards the end there was never a question about whether we were going to come out hard," senior Becky Mann said. "I'm proud that we were able to take it upon ourselves to give it our all from the start, and not just when we decided we needed it."
But the team hit a bump in the road the following weekend, losing 3-0 at Colby. And although the Jumbos seemed to rebound from the defeat, taking out non-conference foe Gordon 3-0 in a mid-week game, they once again had trouble finding the net the next weekend, losing 1-0 to Bates and falling to 4-3 overall.
The team picked up some momentum with wins over Brandeis (1-0) and Bowdoin (2-1), but then lost a tough match to Amherst, 2-1.
Tufts came back yet again, trampling non-conference opponent Simmons 5-0, and then clinching a spot in the NESCAC Tournament with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Trinity. The Jumbos capitalized on two corner kick goals, one from freshman Becky Greenstein and the other from senior Sara Standish, to move to 8-4 (5-3 NESCAC), just one game off its 2000 pace.
Then came the beginning of the end.
The following Thursday, the team ran into a surprisingly strong WPI squad in the middle of the best season in the program's young history. The Engineers, who had lost to Tufts by a 5-0 score twice in a row, upset the Jumbos 2-0. Tufts was once again unable to capitalize on strong scoring chances, narrowly missing on two attempts in the first minute before giving up a goal just over a minute in.
"There were a lot of missed chances," Whiting said. "Against Williams, for instance, we hit the crossbar twice. If those two balls go in, we win that game. And against Colby and WPI it was the same thing. Really, it's a matter of inches, but I don't think they're going to change the size of the goal for us."
Two days after the WPI loss, the Jumbos traveled to Williams to take on the undefeated Ephs. Tufts fell behind 1-0 early, but evened the score just 27 seconds later and then took the lead midway through the second period. But Williams was destined to complete its perfect regular season, scoring twice in the final 15 minutes - the second time with 24 seconds remaining - to win 3-2.
"Another high point was our game against Williams," Cooper said. "Although we lost, I thought we played outstanding, and didn't let down until the last whistle blew. That game served as a boost of confidence for our game against Amherst. Although that also ended in a loss, we fought with pride to the end."
After the Williams game, the team went straight to Bates, for matchup with Amherst in the opening round of the NESCAC Tournament the next day. Tufts played strong against the Lord Jeffs, but Amherst freshman Lee-Jay Henry scored the game-winner against the Jumbos for the second time this year, notching two goals a minute apart to give her team a 3-1 win. Amherst went on to beat Williams 2-1 in overtime in the NESCAC finals, earning an NCAA Tournament berth. The Ephs, at 14-1, received an at-large bid.
"Of course I am disappointed," Schanfield said. "But even without the accolades of last year, I still consider our season a success. Our record doesn't reflect the heart we showed that last weekend. We worked hard and had fun. That's really the bottom line."
With the season's end, six Jumbos closed out their Tufts careers. This year's senior class was one of the strongest Tufts has seen, and was one of only two that saw two NCAA New England Championships. The class graduates with a career record of 47-19-4 (.700), and the five players not in goal combined for 139 points on 51 goals and 37 assists.
"We're losing a talented group of seniors," Whiting said. "You can take them one by one, and they all contributed significantly to the success of our team, in this year and in years past. To have six seniors on a team that all actually play is almost unheard of."
Cooper, the most statistically prominent of the group, finishes her career as Tufts' second all-time leading scorer, with 85 points on 34 goals and 17 assists.
"Cooper has been the heart of our attack for the last four years," Whiting said. "She's a finesse player who understands the game and can see the field really well. She's very composed in front of the net, and also has a great change of pace."
Despite missing four games with a hip injury, co-captain Katie Ruddy - switched to a diamond defense set from a flat back for the first time in her career - was a valuable asset in the back, helping shut down opposing attacks as well as pushing forward on Tufts' offensive runs.
"She did a fantastic job," Whiting said of Ruddy. "She struggled with the injury against Wesleyan, and it was too bad that she ended up missing that amount of time, because she ended up being so valuable to us."
Midfielder Katie Kehrberger, who was named to the All-NESCAC second team, finished her career with four goals and eight assists. Most of those came off corner kicks, where she excelled in giving her team a chance to score.
Standish also gave the Jumbos valuable minutes in the midfield, finishing her career with five goals and three assists despite missing most of last year with a knee injury, and midfielder Becky Mann, a dangerous offensive threat from the wing, tallied eight goals through four tears.
Schanfield rounds out the group of six. After serving as Randee McArdle's backup for three seasons, she came on strong in her senior year, ending her career with a 1.22 goals against average, a save percentage of 81, and four shutouts.
"It's hard when you basically haven't played in three years, but she really adjusted well," Whiting said. "Once she started to play and make saves she became confident in herself, and improved as the year went on. If the season had continued, she just would have gotten better and better."
Despite the losses, Tufts will not be left without its share of talent, as four talented juniors step into the team's leadership roles. The class will be led by midfielder Alle Sharlip, who was tied for the lead with ten points this year, and Cara Glassanos, the team's sweeper, as well as Elizabeth Tooley and Brenna O'Rourke, who have combined for ten goals and five assists so far.
"It'll be a very strong senior class," Whiting said. "We have talented players who are good leaders."
The sophomore class boasts Jess Trombly, second only to Cooper in active scoring with 30 points, defensive starters Jess Lovitz and Abby Herzberg, and striker Becca Doigan, who missed most of the season with an ankle injury. In addition, this year's freshmen saw much more playing time than any in recent memory, as five of the eight rookies played in ten games or more - experience that will prove valuable in future years.
"I'm really excited about the classes coming back," Whiting said. "Forget about any freshmen we might get; those are three very talented groups of soccer players. Player for player, we were better this year than last year, and that bodes well for the future.
Whiting isn't the only one who has high expectations for the team's future. "This year our team learned a lot," Ruddy said. "We learned how to concentrate on us, to live in the present, and the importance of urgency and desire... Our team is full of talented, determined players. The junior class has such energy and leadership, the sophomore class has heart and determination, and the freshmen add that certain spark. I can't wait to see what they create next season."
