First seed earns women's soccer week off

The NESCAC soccer tournament began last Sunday, with the first seeded Jumbos receiving a bye, and the second through seventh seeds facing off at the higher seed's home field.

The second seeded Bowdoin Polar Bears snuck away with a 1-0 victory over the Trinity Bantams. The third seeded Williams Ephs handily defeated the Middlebury Panthers 3-0. In the lone upset of the day, the fifth seeded Connecticut College Camels defeated the fourth seeded Lord Jeffs from Amherst, 2-1.

These games set the stage for this weekend. The Jumbos will play the Camels, while the Ephs square off against the Polar Bears, both on Saturday afternoon at Kraft field in the semifinals. The winners will meet on Sunday for the NESCAC championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Jumbos and the Camels have faced each other in each of the past four years, with both teams winning two of the games. The Camels won the most recent game, earlier this year on Sept. 21, escaping with a 1-0 win on a goal from 35 yards out in the 41st minute of the contest. The Jumbos, however, have put that loss behind them, realizing that they are a better team than they were at the beginning of the season.

"The game against Connecticut was at the beginning of the season, and we were not a cohesive unit yet, we were still getting comfortable with each other," senior co-captain Alle Sharlip said. "We're so much better as a team than we were when we played them the first time in September, and we're going in very excited and confident to play them again."

The Jumbos are using this week to rest their bodies and work on refining both their offense and their defense for the weekend.

"The week off is definitely going to help. At this point in the season, the players are banged up, over trained, and sick, and we're basically using the first few days as recovery days," coach Martha Whiting said. "Practices have been pretty light. It's also very nice not to have a mid-week interruption that we have to get up for, it just helps us focus more on Saturday's game."

Sharlip is enthusiastic about the bye to the semi-finals as well as the time off.

"Getting a first round bye is mainly a confidence builder. Also, towards the end of the season, our bodies are worn out, and it's a luxury to have a day off, especially for people who are nursing injuries," she said.

While the Jumbos have been in the conference playoffs many times in the past, this marks the first season that they will be actually hosting the tournament.

"For me and the rest of the seniors, it's so exciting to host the tournament, mainly because it gives us more home games," Sharlip said. "Just knowing you're in first place, and having family and friends there to watch you play makes it that much more special."

Whiting agreed.

"Not having to travel takes one bit of stress away. We get to sleep in our own beds, we don't have to wake up early and go on a long bus ride, and we get to play in a familiar environment surrounded by our fans," she said. "It definitely helps."

While the Jumbos are both excited and confident to be going into the tournament in first place, they know that come game time, the seedings mean nothing.

"We all know its an important game, so we are trying not to get too worked up about the fact that it's the playoffs and that we're the number one seed, and just focus on what we must do to beat Connecticut College," freshman Lindsay Garmirian said.

"Everyone on our team loves to play soccer, and we're all so excited to be in the tournament," Sharlip said. "The fact that every game could be our last makes it all the more intense."