Owl fight past Jumbos in NCAA tournament

The women's soccer team's season came to a disappointing close after suffering a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the Keene State Owls on a mud-soaked Elms Field at Wheaton College in Norton, MA on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, which came in the second round of the NCAA Div III tournament, the Jumbos finished their season as NESCAC champions with a 13-4-1 overall record.

The Jumbos' defense, which was dominant throughout the post-season, once again did not let up, as the game's only score came on an own goal by a Tufts defender.

"I'm extremely, extremely proud with the way the girls fought today. They kept going until the last whistle," coach Martha Whiting said after the game. "We did some great things this year: we hosted the NESCACs, we won the NESCACs, and we shut out Williams and scored three goals on them. We can't let this loss take away from any of those accomplishments."

For the second game in a row, the weather conditions were far less than perfect. In addition to being extremely cold, the wind was howling and the rain came down incessantly from start to finish, forcing the players, especially the goalies, to get their bodies behind the ball and keep it low to the ground.

"The conditions sucked out there today," senior co-captain Alle Sharlip said. "The field was like one big mud pit."

Nevertheless, both teams came out aggressively from the start, getting early scoring opportunities. In the third minute, Tufts senior midfielder EA Tooley sent a rocket from the top of the penalty box that was barely deflected off the crossbar by the leaping Owls sophomore keeper Michelle Mason.

Just nine minutes later, in the 12th minute, the Owls got their first real scoring chance when senior Colleen Antonini sent a shot on goal that was blocked by the Jumbo's junior All-NESCAC fullback Jess Lovitz. The teams battled hard in the rain and cold for the next fifteen minutes, with neither team having any uncontested shots on the net.

In the 28th minute, the Jumbos got another golden opportunity to score. Freshman forward Sarah Callaghan raced down the right sideline and sent a centering cross that ricocheted off an Owl defender right to the foot of junior forward Becca Doigan. Doigan then unleashed a shot on the goal that Mason had to dive to her left to block.

The teams fought hard until the end of the half, but with both defenses remaining strong and intact, neither team was able to put one into the net.

At halftime, coach Whiting stressed the importance of passing the ball quickly, controlling possession of the ball, and matching the physical play of the Owls. Perhaps most physical was Owls' freshman fullback Missy Mengual, who neutralized Jumbo junior all-conference forward Jess Trombly not with her skill, but by pushing, tripping, and falling to the ground.

The second half of action saw much of the same, as the ball was centered at midfield for much of the opening minutes, due to the worsening weather conditions. However, in the 57th minute, the Owls caught a huge break. Junior forward Erin Lester sent a shot from 20 yards away that was going left of the net, but in a frantic attempt to clear the ball, it ricocheted off a Jumbo player into the back of the net, giving Keene a 1-0 lead.

With their season on the line, the Jumbos fought that much harder in the final 25 minutes, not relenting until the final whistle was blown. In the 70th minute, a Jumbo player sent the ball from the right side of the field to an empty left side. Speedy freshman midfielder Lindsay Garmirian raced to take control of the ball, but the charging Owls goalie tripped her up as soon as she touched it, giving the Jumbos a penalty kick. Sophomore leading scorer Jennifer Baldwin, who made the team's past two kicks against Connecticut College and Williams in the NESCAC playoffs, was the unanimous choice to take the kick. Baldwin, who was named to the All-NESCAC first team this week, sent her shot wide left, keeping the Owls lead intact.

"I had made all of my penalty kicks in practice," Baldwin said. "But I was forced to set the ball up in a huge pile of mud, and I couldn't feel my toes, and I missed."

The Jumbos had another scoring opportunity just seven minutes later, when Tooley received a pass from 15 yards out and blasted a rocket on goal that missed wide right by no more than six inches.

Tufts had one final chance with eight minutes to play. Freshman back Ariel Samuelson sent a rocket to the left side of the net from 40 yards out that classmate Callaghan redirected to the right side of the net with her head, only to see Mason dive to her left to make the save, preserving the Owls' one goal lead.

As the final buzzer sounded, the Owls piled on each other near their goal, while the Jumbos walked off the field in tears. Tufts outshot Keene State 11-5 in the game, with the Owls having a slight edge in corner kicks, 8-7. Mason finished with eight saves in the game, while Jumbo sophomore goalie Meg McCourt recorded seven in the loss.

"We had our chances, we didn't play poorly, but we just couldn't put the ball in the net. That's been the story of our season," McCourt said. "We were a better team, and it would have been much different in normal conditions. Five minutes in, we realized the ref wasn't on our side. We have a great team, we had a great season, and I'm really sad to see our seniors go, and it's really unfair that it had to end like this."

"Today's loss was very disappointing," senior co-captain Cara Glassanos said. "I believe we were a much better team, but the weather conditions were the equalizing factor. It's tough when you lose despite having the ball in the opponents' zone for the majority of the game. This team has a ton of talent, and I know they will pull things back together and do great things next year."

The end of the season marks the end of an era for the team's four seniors, Sharlip, Glassanos, Tooley, and Brenna O'Rourke.

"We had a great season," Tooley said. "I love this team, and I've had an amazing four years here. I'm really going to miss it."