Sophomore forward Ben Castellot netted two goals on Saturday tolead the visiting Jumbos to a 3-2 upset victory over the BowdoinPolar Bears in overtime.
The win snapped Tufts' three-game conference losing streak andbrought the Jumbos' record up to 5-3-1 (2-3 NESCAC).
Castellot scored five minutes into the second half, and againfive minutes into the overtime period. His second goal gave theJumbos the win and a much-needed burst of momentum.
"The team was more excited than I've seen [it] all year,"Castellot said. "It was such a big win for us against a top NESCACteam and will give us confidence and a huge momentum boost."
Freshman forward Dan Jozwiak dibbled the ball in towards thePolar Bear goal from about 40 yards out to begin the play that ledto the final goal. Castellot's defender came out after the ball,leaving a space for Jozwiak to send the ball through on the ground.Castellot raced past the Bowdoin defense to give himself abreakaway. Bowdoin's freshman goalie Nathan Lovitz came out to cutoff the angle, but Castellot drilled the ball into the back of thenet for the win.
The game was one of the first of the season for Castellot. Thesophomore, like much of the team, has battled injury all year.
"It was a great feeling coming back and scoring those two goalsafter being hurt," Castellot said.
Bowdoin forced the overtime period with an equalizing goal justtwo minutes before regulation time ran out. Freshman Wolf Grueberknocked in the goal and kept the Polar Bears' hopes of preventingthe upset alive.
Before Grueber's goal, Tufts had maintained its 2-1 lead fornearly forty minutes. Castellot put the Jumbos ahead at the50-minute mark by chipping freshman forward Bob Kastoff's throughball over Lovitz.
"Kastoff got the ball, took one touch, and played it through,"Castellot said. "The goalie came out, so I had to chip it over hishead."
That goal was the second time Tufts had taken the lead in thematch. The first Jumbo advantage came when Tufts scored the firstgoal of the match 13 minutes into the first half. Junior centermidfielder Mike Guigli tallied his second goal of the season with aplummeting shot from 25 yards out.
"Guigli took a couple touches after he got the ball to open upsome space," Castellot said. "Then he ripped the ball and it dippedin at the last second. It was a beautiful shot."
The Polar Bears retaliated with a goal of their own in the 23rdminute off the foot of sophomore Simon Parsons. With the score tiedat one at the half, the Jumbos felt confident in their ability topull off the upset.
"Our first half goal was a quality goal, while theirs was just aricochet shot," Castellot said. "We felt we were controlling thegame and that, if we came back out hard, we could really take it tothem."
The Jumbos did take it to them and, in doing so, earned amuch-needed NESCAC victory.
"We came out with a lot of heart and carried that throughout thegame," Castellot said. "Both teams had chances they didn'tcapitalize on, but we put them on their heels early and came awaywith the huge win."
Before last week, Tufts was in the midst of a three game NESCAClosing streak, and was clinging on to its .500 overall record bybeating non-league teams. After another non-NESCAC win againstEndicott last Thursday, the Jumbos were again faced with aformidable NESCAC opponent in Bowdoin, but this time the resultsslanted in Tufts' favor.
The Jumbos now sit in the seventh position in the league. Theupset dropped the former first-ranked Polar Bears to fourth behindWilliams, Amherst and Middlebury.
Tufts will face two of the three teams below it in the standingsover the next few weeks.
These match ups against Trinity and Connecticut College will bemust-wins for Tufts to remain in playoff contention. If the Jumbosupset Williams or Wesleyan, they would be in an even better spotfor the postseason.
As has been the pattern for most of the season, Tufts will playa non-league game during the week in preparation for NESCACcompetition over the weekend.
Non-league Plymouth State will travel to Medford tomorrow. Tuftswill then head to Trinity as conference play resumes onSaturday.
