Men's soccer suffers blowout loss

The Tufts University men's soccer team suffered one of the worst losses in its history on Saturday, bowing out to NESCAC conference rival Williams College 6-0.

"As a team we performed fairly well," senior quad-captain Mike Blea said. "But, we didn't get the result we wanted"

Coming off a solid performance against Trinity last Saturday that resulted in a 2-1 win, their second home win this year, the Jumbos were looking to keep the ball rolling. However they ran into a brick wall against Williams.

The Ephs are currently atop the NESCAC conference with a record of 6-0-1 in the conference and are ranked seventh in the nation amongst Division III schools.

The game was not as lopsided as the score would indicate. The Jumbos had many chances to score but couldn't come through with results, a problem that has been relatively consistent for Tufts throughout the year. The Jumbos were out-shot by just six, 21-15, and Tufts had six corner kicks, twice as many as the Ephs.

"We just didn't put away opportunities and they did," Blea said. "The ball just didn't go in the net for us"

Williams scored in bunches, with its first three goals coming in a span of just under six minutes. The first goal for the Ephs came in the 11th minute, when Williams senior Ryan Olsen made a nice pass to the right side of the field to fellow senior Khari Stephenson. Stephenson corralled the pass and blasted the ball into the left side of the net.

Olsen also was credited with the assist on the second goal. However, this time the pass went to his younger brother, freshman Brett Olsen. Older brother Ryan again made a solid pass to the right side of the net, where Brett was waiting to finish. This goal came in the 16th minute and put the Jumbos in an even larger hole.

"[The Olsen's] are both good players," Blea said. "Brett, the younger brother up front, is a fast kid and that gave us some trouble."

The Ephs were not finished, and their relentless attack came through once again less than two minutes later thanks to some familiar faces. This time it was little brother Brett collecting the assist and Stephenson notching his second goal of the game.

The 3-0 deficit that the Jumbos found themselves in with over 25 minutes left in the half matched the largest deficit they have faced thus far this year. NESCAC rivals Bowdoin and Amherst both defeated Tufts by that margin earlier this year.

The scoring subsided for much of the rest of the game, as the Jumbos held their own against the Ephs. The three goals were a tough mountain to climb against any team though, especially against perennial powerhouse Williams. Williams has had Tufts' number over the past few years, but this can be said about the Ephs for pretty much all of the NESCAC conference.

After the long scoring lull, the pace quickly picked up with a bang in the 70th minute, as the combination of Brett Olsen and Stephenson combined for yet another goal. This time it was Stephenson feeding Olsen for his second goal of the game. Both Olsen and Stephenson finished the day with 2 goals and 1 assist. The scoring came in bunches once more for Williams, as it tacked on two more goals in the next 16 minutes.

The loss dampened the mood of a Tufts squad that was coming off a two game winning streak and the naming of freshman forward Ben Castellot as the NESCAC player of the week. It was the second time a Jumbo player had been given the honor this year. Junior goalkeeper Scott Conroy was named co-player of the week for his play in the second week of the season.

"Early on in the season I couldn't find my rhythm," Castellot said. "Over the past week I have been feeling much more comfortable."

Castellot came back from an injury that sidelined him for the Endicott game and played extremely well, finding the back of the net once in the team's 3-2 win against Salve Regina and twice against Trinity, accounting for both Jumbo goals in the 2-1 win. Castellot is currently tied with senior quad-captain Mike Blea for the team lead in goals with three.