Women's soccer looks to improve NESCAC standing

Over the past month, the women's soccer team has gone 1-4 in NESCAC play, with its one win coming against the lowly Wesleyan Cardinals, who haven't won a conference game in three years. The Jumbos have lost on four consecutive Saturdays, giving up 11 goals while only finding the back of the net four times during those losses.

Currently in seventh place in the conference but still in the playoff picture, the women's soccer team hopes to climb up the NESCAC ladder this Saturday at 1:30 against the Middlebury Panthers at Kraft Field.

The NESCAC playoffs involve the top seven teams, with the number one seed getting a bye to the semifinals. Seeds two through four host five through seven on Sunday, Nov. 2, and the winners head to the number one seed's home field to play the semifinals the week after.

"A good showing on Saturday would prove that we can play against the better teams." junior midfielder Sarah Gelb said. "It doesn't really matter that much as long as we are in the playoffs, but it would certainly help our confidence level."

Tufts is coming off its best game of the year on Tuesday, a sound 3-0 defeat of the Keene State Owls. Not only is Keene the team that beat Tufts in last year's NCAA regional semifinals, but the Owls have also had extremely close games with both Middlebury and Williams earlier this season. The win gives Tufts an extra confidence boost heading into Saturday.

"The Keene State game was a huge confidence booster for us," Gelb said. "It showed both us and our opponents that we could come together as a team and beat anyone, and is really going to help going into the Middlebury game."

Beating Middlebury, however, is not going to be an easy task for Tufts. The Panthers are currently 4-3 in the conference, already having beaten the likes of Williams and Bowdoin this season. Middlebury traditionally is known for its offense more than its defense, something which should work to Tufts' advantage as the Jumbos boast one of, if not the top, back four in the conference.

The backline will be led by senior co-captains Abby Herzberg and Jess Lovitz, who have been the backbone of the Jumbos this year. The two will be supported by sophomore outside backs Ariel Samuelson and Cate Meeker, and junior keeper Meg McCourt.

The defense will have its hands full with the entire Middlebury offense, but mainly junior forward Brittany Cronin, who leads the NESCAC with 25 points on 10 goals and five assists.

In practice this week, the Jumbos will be working on many of the same things that they have all season.

"We need to work on condensing our defense and moving together and transitioning to offense, so that as soon as we win the ball, we're all moving forward," Gelb said. "We also need to work on capitalizing on the chances we get."

The Jumbos offensive charge will be led by the one-two punch of junior Jen Baldwin and senior Jess Trombly. Baldwin leads the team in goals (7), assists (6), and points (20). Trombly sits tied for second in each offensive category with sophomore Sarah Callaghan, both of whom have tallied five goals, two assists, and twelve points on the year.

Trombly and Baldwin look to use their speed and ball control abilities to overwhelm the Panther defense that has only allowed seven goals in seven NESCAC games this season.

Callaghan will look to wreak havoc from both her center midfield and right forward positions, using her ability to send the ball to open space to find attackers cutting towards the net.

The midfield, which is finally coming back to full strength, will be the most important factor in Saturday's game. Junior Alina Schmidt and sophomore Lindsay Garmirian are close to full strength, which gives the Jumbos two more midfielders off the bench. In addition, freshman Jenny Muller will most likely see a bigger role this weekend after her two goal outburst against Keene State.

"It's really exciting to have everyone finally back," Gelb said. "Now we know that we are able to play as hard as we can, and know that we have a deep bench to come in and do well."