Women take out nationally ranked Amherst

After beginning its season in disappointing fashion last week, the women's soccer team (1-1, 1-0) rebounded in a big way this weekend by defeating defending NESCAC champion and NCAA finalist Amherst, 1-0, on Saturday.

Amherst, which entered the game ranked second in the nation, ended the Jumbos season last year in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs, with a 3-1 win. The victory set the tone for the Jeffs' playoff run, which eventually carried them to the NCAA championship game.

If revenge was on the minds of the Jumbos this weekend, they succeeded, as they handed the Jeffs their first lost of the season.

"We played wonderfully," sophomore midfielder Jen Baldwin said. "I really had no expectations going into the game, but I think we showed that we're as good, if not better than they are."

Baldwin scored the lone goal of the contest, the first of her collegiate career, in a first half that was dominated primarily by Amherst.

In a slight reversal of roles from last week's game against Gordon, the Jumbos were able to capitalize on the opportunities they had, while the Jeffs continually fired shots just wide of the net or off the posts.

Less than 15 minutes into the game, Amherst's sophomore striker Tracy Montigny took a feed from junior Jenny Rossman and launched a shot just wide of Tufts' goal. Shortly thereafter, a rocket off the foot of sophomore Adrienne Showler flew just over the crossbar.

Not long after Amherst's missed chances, at 28:46, Baldwin took a feed from senior co-captain Cara Glassanos and, after getting by one Amherst defender, punched a low shot into the bottom corner of the goal, netting the eventual game winner.

Early on in the second half, Tufts saw another golden opportunity, as junior forward Becca Doigan blasted a point blank shot at the Amherst net. The Jeffs' senior goalkeeper Brooke Diamond was there, however, smothering the shot to keep Amherst in the game.

Both goalkeepers had strong showings in the game _ Diamond finished with eight saves on nine shots, while Tufts sophomore netminder Meg McCourt stopped all nine attempts that came her way.

Although the second half was more evenly played than the first, the Jeffs had a chance to tie the game up in the 66th minute of the match, when sophomore midfielder Ashley Harmeling fired a sharp-angled shot over the cross bar. As Harmeling's shot sailed away, so too did the Jeffs' chances, as the Jumbos held on to squeak out the victory.

The win improved Tufts' record to 1-1 overall, and 1-0 in NESCAC play. The Jeffs dropped to 2-1 on the season, and 1-1 in the conference.

Tufts is now tied with Bates and Williams for first place in the NESCAC, while Amherst is part of a five way tie for fourth with Bowdoin, Middlebury, Trinity, and Wesleyan.

Though it is still early, the win over the highly touted Jeffs puts Tufts in good position for the remainder of the season.

The Jumbos next game is a non-conference, home matchup against Babson College on Tuesday. The team was routed by the Beavers in its season opener last year, falling 4-1.

Following its victory over a heavily favored Amherst team, Tufts will be riding high coming into the game against Babson. But the Beavers, currently 2-2, have shown flashes of a high powered offense already this season, with a 7-0 victory over Anna Maria, and a 15-0 victory over Emmanuel.

Though neither of these teams is of Amherst's caliber, Tufts found out in its opener against Gordon that non-conference opponents cannot be taken for granted.

"They have a lot of great goal scorers," Baldwin said. "We haven't thought too much about that game yet, but it's definitely something we'll have to keep in mind."

The Jumbos will square off against the Beavers on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Kraft Field