Senior defender Mike Prindiville's third game-winning goal of the season - and, incidentally, the third goal of his collegiate career - propelled the men's soccer team (8-2, 5-2 NESCAC) to a 1-0 victory over the Trinity Bantams on Saturday afternoon. The win was the team's fourth consecutive victory and third straight against a conference opponent, giving the Jumbos sole position of third place in the NESCAC.
Prindiville's goal came with 3:40 left in the first half and capped off a period that the Jumbos thoroughly controlled. The scoring opportunity came from a free kick by sophomore defender Mike Blea just inside the midfield line. Blea sent a drive towards the near post, where Prindiville was stationed.
"It's kind of a confidence thing," Prindiville said after the game. "Before I never believed I could score but now I think I can."
That confidence helped Prindiville knock the ball past the Bantams' mammoth goalie, 6'5" 225-lb. Michael Doherty.
"Every time the ball is in our half, Blea takes the [free] kick, and he plays me the ball," Prindiville said. "He played me an unbelievably perfect ball."
While Prindiville gave credit to Blea for the game-winning pass, Jumbos' coach Ralph Ferrigno was quick to praise his tri-captain for his scoring and, more importantly, his defensive play. "Mike [Prindiville] is playing brilliantly defensively and being that is what I expect of him," he said. "And he has a few goals to boot. He and [tri-captain] Brad Stitchberry are awesome."
Stichberry's talents were on display for much of the second half from his position on the left side of the midfield. The senior consistently blew past Trinity defenders and sent both shots and crosses in front of Bantam's net. While he did not record a point on the day, Stitchberry was constantly pressuring Trinity's defense.
Despite the 1-0 score, Tufts controlled the ball for much of the afternoon, especially for the first 45 minutes of play. The Jumbo's supremacy was evident in the shots on goal discrepancy between the two squads. The Jumbos out-shot the Bantams by 50 percent, attempting 18 shots to Trinity's nine.
"We played very well today," Ferrigno said. "We dominated the first half and Trinity came into [the game] in the second half. It was a thoroughly deserved victory. The lads played hard. It would have been nice to get an insurance goal, but I'll take one-nil."
Junior forward Garret Dale echoed his coach's sentiments. "I thought that was probably the first game that we played hard and well for 90 minutes. We deserved a victory."
Trinity, however, did not lack scoring opportunities. With 14:38 left in the game, Tufts freshman goalie Scott Conroy nearly fumbled a Trinity shot from far out but recovered. Then, with nearly 12 minutes remaining, the Bantams missed an open scoring chance when Conroy came out of the net to stop a man approaching from the left side with the ball. Conroy was unable to cut off the nearing Bantum player, but the shot sailed wide right. Finally, with 2:37 left in the contest, Conroy made a diving save to his right, preventing another potential game-tying goal.
The shutout was Conroy's fourth in ten collegiate contests. "Scott's a good player," Ferrigno said. "Goalie is the hardest position to start at as a freshman. It's telling of the four lads in front of him. They are a great unit."
"We have one of the best defensive units in the league," Prindiville said. "When we communicate, we can be good. We tackle really hard."
While game featured a lot of finesse plays, there was also a significant amount of physical contact. With approximately 1:30 left in the contest, junior tri-captain Matt MacGregor picked up yellow card for a hard foul on a Trinity defender.
With the win, the Jumbos put themselves into position to make a serious postseason run. Currently, the squad trails only Williams and Middlebury in the NESCAC standings and will get a shot to take down Williams next Saturday. However, before Tufts can look ahead to Williams, it will have to play Johnson and Wales on Wednesday in a non-conference home game at 2:30 p.m.
"From the beginning of the season we have been playing well," Dale said. "We slipped in the first half [against Bates on September 29] and they got up a goal and got lucky [winning 2-1]. We are showing the NESCAC and the country that we can play with the best."
