In a stiff wind on Saturday afternoon, the men's soccer team saw its zero in the loss column blown away by the Middlebury Panthers in Vermont. Tufts was shut out 2-0 to even its season record at 1-1-1 and bring its NESCAC mark to 1-1 on the year.
Tufts came out strong to open the match and dominated play for the first 35 minutes. However the game soon turned in favor of the home team with a controversial call in the 38th minute. The Panthers worked the ball down the side of the pitch, playing it wide towards the corner. The ball was sent into the box to senior Panther John Rusten. The Tufts defense bodied up to Rusten and was called for a foul inside the box.
On the ensuing penalty kick, Rusten lasered the ball over Tufts' senior keeper Matt Sullivan's right shoulder to break the 0-0 stalemate and gave Middlebury a lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
"Our defender played the ball well," freshman midfielder Andrew Drucker said. "It was a pretty soft call."
The Jumbos were particularly dissatisfied with the ref's decision to award Middlebury the PK after a similar play involving Tufts junior forward Todd Gilbert earlier in the match failed to yield the same result.
With the momentum clearly in their favor, the Panthers took it to the Jumbos for the remainder of the match. At half time, the score still stood at 1-0, but it would not be long before the Panthers would strike again.
In the 55th minute, Middlebury senior J.B. Gerber hit an open header into the net after a cross from classmate Nicholas Colacchio.
"We were pushed up very high and our midfield was out of position," Drucker said. "Middlebury crossed an early ball into the box that left [Gerber] with the open header."
Middlebury controlled the remainder of the game. The Panthers out-shot Tufts sixteen to nine in the contest and retained possession for the majority of the second 45 minutes.
"It was very difficult for us to hold possession in the second half," Drucker said. "We didn't get good pressure on their forwards or middies and they were able to take a lot of shots."
Though Tufts failed to capitalize, the team did have numerous scoring opportunities. Senior midfielder Brett Wong, sophomore forward Ben Castellot, and junior midfielder Mike Guigli all had good hits that failed to find the back of the net.
"Looking back, it was a very winnable game," Drucker said. "In the first half we really outplayed them, but didn't capitalize on our opportunities. If we had played the whole game the way we played the first 35 minutes, it would have been a different story."
The Jumbos have scored a total of two goals in three games. Though early in the season, this lack of offensive production could hurt Tufts if it continues as it did last season. In 2003, Tufts was outscored 28 to 17 in 15 games on its way to a 6-7-2 final showing.
In addition to a lack of offensive production, the Jumbos' relatively young squad could face more problems similar to those it encountered against Middlebury, a team that boasts eight seniors. Tufts has just three seniors, two of whom alternate in the goal. The Jumbos have no starting fourth year field players.
"I think our youth does hurt us in the sense that we lack game experience," Drucker said. "Many of us are still learning the ropes of college soccer."
However Drucker also believes that the team's youth is advantageous in some ways.
"Being young helps us because we are a very enthusiastic, tight knit group. We are also one of the hardest working squads in recent Tufts soccer history."
After the first two weeks of the season, the Jumbos are sandwiched in the middle of the NESCAC between undefeated teams Bowdoin, Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst, and four teams who have yet to win a NESCAC match. The Jumbos will have an opportunity to shift the momentum in their favor against non-league Salve Regina at home on Wednesday before facing Amherst on Saturday.
Last year, the Jumbos knocked out Salve Regina, 3-2, on the road.
