Tufts women tame Bobcats

The women's soccer team climbed back above .500 with a 2-1 win over the visiting Bates Bobcats at Homecoming on Saturday. The Jumbos (3-2) picked up their second conference win to move to 2-1 in the NESCAC, where they are tied with Williams for third place.

"We came out very determined today, right from the beginning," coach Martha Whiting said. "I feel like we outplayed them all over the field. We defended well, we had a lot of opportunities, and finally, this time, one of them went in."

Sophomore Sarah Gelb headed in the winning goal for Tufts with just under six minutes to play in regulation. Defender Catherine Benedict got possession about 25 yards out, and fired a laser shot off the crossbar, sending the ball soaring into the air. It came down on the right side of the goal, where Gelb and a crowd of other Jumbos were waiting to knock in the rebound. Gelb got to it first, heading the ball past Bobcat keeper Kim Martell for the game-winner.

"Catherine had a great shot," Whiting said. "One thing we've been working on is crashing the net on every single shot. There were probably three girls there who could have scored that goal, and Sarah got her head on it. That gave us a little sigh of relief."

The goal was an important one for the Jumbos, who have been having a hard time finishing chances this season. They are last in the NESCAC in goals scored, with just five on the year, but after a full week of practice, where offense and finishing scoring chances were the main focus, the team looked much better Saturday.

"We've been working on that a lot," junior Jess Trombly said. "We'd been having trouble putting it into the back of the net. It was really good for our confidence to finally finish. We had a lot of good plays up at the front, so hopefully we'll be able to continue that."

"We've really been focusing on not forcing the ball," senior co-captain Cara Glassanos added. "Playing the simple easy passes, and making it easier for ourselves, instead of trying to take on more people. Every day, that's the first thing we started off with in practice, and I think that's really made a difference."

The Jumbos came out strong from the start, generating good chances early on, and netting the game's first goal on a penalty kick in the 25th minute.

"I think we really came together as a team today," Glassanos said. "We learned our lesson coming out slow, and we really came out strong today. Everybody was really fired up for Homecoming."

Junior Becca Doigan took the penalty kick, after she was tackled from behind by a Bobcat defender inside the 18. Doigan sent a low ball towards the right post, and although Martell got a hand on it, all she could do was deflect it into the goal, giving Tufts the 1-0 lead.

The Jumbos did a good job protecting that lead throughout the remainder of the first half, and threatened to add to it a number of times. It was more of the same as the second period began, with the Jumbos taking two strong shots in the first minute alone.

But Bates wasn't giving up yet. Fifteen minutes into the second frame, the Bobcats suddenly came alive, taking control of the ball and making a series of strong pushes into Jumbo territory.

"They came out somewhat flat in the second half, and then I don't know what happened, but they really fired up," Whiting said. "They started to play hard and they started beating us to balls."

The intensity burst paid off for the Bobcats, as they evened the score with 29:04 to play. Junior Catherine Crosby fired the ball off the right post, and then followed her shot in, taking the rebound in front of the net and popping the ball up and over Tufts keeper Meg McCourt to tie the game at one.

The goal seemed to ignite both teams, as the two sides fought back and forth over the next ten to 15 minutes. But it was the Jumbos who would win out, as they gradually took back control of the game. The team stepped up its intensity, determined to win it in regulation.

"[Losing a lead] is always a downer," senior co-captain Alle Sharlip said. "It snaps you back into reality. But our team is really good at getting it back after something like that. And it was a reality check for us. We know we can't be playing like that and let them score."

After a number of close calls, the winning goal finally came on Gelb's header with 5:51 to play. The goal was her second of the year, and she now leads the team with four points.

On the day, the Jumbos out-shot Bates 32-8, and held a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.

"We played really well," Sharlip said. "We dominated pretty much the entire game. We had tons of shots on the goal, which is what we needed. We were very composed, and did the things that we were supposed to do. We talked about specific tactics we were going to work on in the pregame talk, and we did it all. We did a great job _ everybody was really working their butts off."

Next up for the Jumbos is WPI, a team that surprised Tufts with a 2-0 win last year in Worcester, after suffering consecutive 5-0 defeats to the Jumbos in 1999 and 2000. Tufts will look to avenge that loss at home on Kraft Field Wednesday at 4 p.m.