A boisterous crowd and Homecoming momentum were not enough to propel the men's soccer team past Bates on Saturday as the Jumbos fell to the Bobcats, 5-2. The loss came in a physical match and dropped Tufts to 3-3-1 on the year and 1-3 against NESCAC opponents.
"We just made five mistakes," junior forward Todd Gilbert said of the five goals his team surrendered. "That is a lot of mistakes for any team at this level and Bates capitalized on all of them; that's a sign of a good team."
Bates' offense had scored 18 goals in its last three matches coming into the game against Tufts. The Bobcats also sported a 4-1 overall record and a 1-1 mark against NESCAC teams.
Though quieting the Bates offense seemed a hefty task on paper, the Jumbos were not overly intimidated before the game.
"We weren't too concerned with Bates' offense coming in because of their past opponents," Gilbert said. "They were playing teams like Conn. College and New England College so we didn't really concentrate on what they had been doing."
Perhaps a little more concentration on stopping Bates' offense would have been advantageous for the Jumbos as the Bobcats put five tallies on the board over the course of the game. Going into the game, the Jumbos had given up just eight goals in all of their previous six games combined.
Starting senior keeper Matt Sullivan surrendered the first two goals in the first half, and classmate and captain Scott Conroy gave up the other three scores in the second 45 minutes after having not played for several weeks.
"I felt good going in, but I was pretty cold," Conroy said. "It was pretty unexpected that I would play."
Despite the final score, Tufts actually drew first blood in a very physical match. In the 21st minute, freshman forward Bob Kastoff scored his first collegiate goal to give the Jumbos a 1-0 advantage. Gilbert was driving to the net when he was tripped up in the middle of the box by two Bates defenders. The ball squirted loose and Kastoff drilled in the clean-up goal.
The Bobcats would not remain scoreless for long, however, as a questionable handball call in the box gave Bates senior captain Dan Bradford a penalty kick in the 30th minute. Sullivan blocked Bradford's initial low shot, but could not keep Bates from knocking the ball in on the rebound.
Aggressive play and penalties characterized much of the match. After last year's game in which several players received red cards for their fouls, the Jumbos were not surprised by the way this game was played.
"Historically the games against Bates have been very physical," Gilbert said. "We knew coming it was going to a rough game, but that's pretty much our style. We were hoping to throw Bates off their game by taking it to them physically, but it didn't work out so well."
Bates tallied the go-ahead goal just before halftime when freshman Brent Morin sent an unassisted shot from the 18-yard line past a sprawling Sullivan and into the opposite upper corner.
Bates was quick to score again after the intermission when junior David Shear looped a long shot to Conroy's right. Down 3-1, the Jumbos were beginning to see the game slip for their fingers until Gilbert brought Tufts back to within one on a penalty.
"I got a feed in the box and took a touch," Gilbert said. "Two defenders converged in on me. One won the ball and then got me right afterwards. It might not have even been a penalty."
Tufts was not upset with the ref's dubious call in this case, however, and was awarded a penalty kick. Gilbert took the shot and scored the second and final goal for the Jumbos on the day.
Bates went on to score two more goals, one in the 72nd and one in the 85th minute. Both goals came off of unassisted shots from junior forward Terence O'Connell. His first tally was the result of a Conroy mistake.
"It was a looping spinning ball that took a bad bounce off the grass," Conroy said. "It went up against my foot and that was that. My head was down, and then everyone on the field stopped playing after that. I take responsibility."
The final goal of the game came on O'Connell's breakaway up the middle of the field. Conroy came out off his line to charge down the striker, but O'Connell made a move around the keeper as Conroy went to the ground in an attempt to block the ball.
Tufts is in the midst of a three game losing streak to NESCAC opponents. With the season at its midpoint, the Jumbos will need to break out of this trend to secure any hope of a playoff berth. The team has a small break this week with three days of practice before facing Endicott College on the road on Thursday. After that, it's on to Bowdoin to kick off yet another NESCAC game on Saturday.
"It's terrible not to be able to win against NESCAC teams because those are the only games that really matter," Conroy said. "Right now we're not looking so good when it comes to the tournament. We need to beat one of the top teams and definitely take Wesleyan, Trinity and Conn. College to have a shot."
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