Team falls in playoffs to Middlebury

The men's soccer team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs at Middlebury on Sunday.

After beating Colby on Saturday to earn the fifth seed in the NESCAC tournament, Tufts had high hopes and momentum going into the match. But the Jumbos' date with Wesleyan in the second round was not to be as sloppy conditions and officiating left tempers flaring and Tufts defeated by one goal.

"It was a rough way to end the season," senior quad-captain Jesse Dinner said. "We were very disappointed after the work we did on Saturday to win the fifth seed."

Tufts' most disappointing moment of the game came in the final minute. Senior quad-captain Mike Blea took a cross from the outside and jumped up evenly with Middlebury goalie Craig Hirsh in an attempt to head the ball into the net. The wet, slippery ball squirted out of Hirsh's hands and into the goal.

The Jumbos celebrated as it appeared they had tied the game and would be heading to overtime. The line judge signaled the goal counted and the scoreboard changed. However, the center referee disallowed the goal a few minutes later and called a foul on Blea for making contact with the keeper.

Middlebury was awarded a free kick and ran out the clock sending the shocked Jumbos home for the season.

"The seniors were crushed," Dinner said. "It was a solid performance from everyone. [We] played with a lot of passion."

Emotions ran high throughout the match. It seemed that the bad blood from Tufts' Oct. 25 loss to the Panthers continued to seethe in both teams' veins as multiple cards and penalties were assessed. With the rain causing more slide tackles and shoddy ball handling, physical play intensified nearly to the breaking point.

"It was as heated if not more than the last game," Dinner said. "There were lots of cards and scuffles."

Middlebury scored the only goal of the match early in the second half. Middlebury forward Jason Griffiths and Tufts goalie, junior Matt Sullivan both leapt up to get a corner kick. Sullivan initially knocked the ball out of the goal, but Griffiths was there for the rebound and drilled a low shot into the lower left side of the goal.

Going into the second half, Tufts still felt very much in the game.

"We felt like we could come back for sure," Dinner said. "[Middlebury] started sitting [back] in the second half. We carried play and [possessed] the ball, but we were not dangerous enough."

Though Tufts did drive deep into the Middlebury zone throughout the second frame, the team could not put together pass combinations to create strong scoring opportunities. As has been the case for most of the season, Tufts had trouble finishing on Sunday.

Middlebury, on the other hand, took 24 shots to Tufts' seven. The Panthers pounded in from outside the 18 yard line, but were held to just one goal thanks to Sullivan and the weather.

"[Middlebury] took a lot of long shots from about 35 yards out," Dinner said. "15 of those were not even a threat to our goal; the numbers are a little deceiving."

Tufts saw strong performances from its back four defenders amidst the barrage of Middlebury long balls. Sullivan also made several acrobatic saves in the second half to keep Tufts in the game.

This loss eliminates the Jumbos from the NESCAC championship tournament in the first round for the second year in a row. Last year, the team lost to Amherst 2-1 to end its season.