Men's soccer aims for home field advantage in playoffs

The Tufts men's soccer team knows that Saturday's match against Middlebury is not just another game.

Barring a collapse against Colby, the game effectively guarantees a home field advantage in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs. It will also mark the first time the Jumbos have strung together two conference victories.

With the playoffs looming just around the corner, momentum is absolutely crucial as this may be one of the biggest games of the season. It is not always the better team that advances, but often the hottest team.

"It would be tremendous for our confidence to get a few wins behind us going into the playoffs," associate head coach Andy Nelson said.

Right now it is not about getting into the playoffs, as it was the case for Tufts just two weeks ago. At that time the Jumbos had a meager 1-2-1 conference record, desperately hanging on to the seventh spot. Since then the Jumbos have defeated Trinity and Wesleyan, and passed them in the standings.

Middlebury looks to be the next victim on the list. The standings currently show the Panthers in fourth place with a record of 3-2-2 with the Jumbos breathing down their necks in fifth place at 3-3-1. To steal fourth place, Tufts cannot settle for anything but a win. A tie will still leave it just one loss short of Middlebury.

"This is certainly a very important game," Nelson said. "We have done well against the bottom teams in the division, but not the top teams. A good showing on Saturday would prove that we can play against the better teams."

Tufts' can thank Middlebury's poor performance just as much as its own solid play for the opportunity. Middlebury sprinted out of the gate to a 6-0 record, shutting out the first five. They even managed to escape the murderers' row of Bowdoin, Amherst, and Williams, the top three teams in the NESCAC, with a record of 0-1-2.

While not a stellar record, most NESCAC teams would be more than happy with those results against that trio. In spite of those performances, the letdown came last Saturday as the Panthers gave Bates their first conference win of the season, 2-0. This gave Tufts the window of opportunity.

"After starting out really well they lost to Bates, which was very important," said quad-captain goalkeeper Scott Conroy. "We have the momentum over them."

The top seven teams advance to the NESCAC tournament, with the first place team, currently Williams, receiving a bye for the first round. The fourth place team will host the fifth place team next Sunday, with the following weekend's semifinal games hosted by the number one seed. No matter the result of Saturday's game, there is a good chance that these two squads will be facing each other next Sunday.

As far as the Jumbos are concerned, they will rely on solid, physical defense, and Conroy between the pipes. The Jumbos have also gotten an added boost from their offense of late. In the Wesleyan game the familiar faces of senior Mike Blea, a defender masquerading as a goal scorer, and freshman forward Ben Castellot both scored. Each tallied their team-leading fourth goals of the season.

Middlebury boasts an offense that has been somewhat anemic of late and could be seen as the culprit of the Panthers' late season decline. Feasting off weaker opponents earlier in the season, Middlebury only won one of its first six games by a margin of less than three goals. However, disregarding a 5-0 trouncing of a weak Norwich team, over the past four games the Panthers have been able to push just one goal across.

The Jumbos know the stakes, but they aren't that worried about Middlebury.

"We want to worry about us, not them," said Conroy. "We've been doing a good job of playing our game lately."