With the prospect of leaving Kraft Field with a decisive win dwindling in the waning moments of yesterday afternoon's game, things went from bad to worse for the Men's soccer team. Tied at three with non-conference opponent Salve Regina (4-3-2, 2-1-1 Commonwealth Coast Conference), Seahawk junior midfielder Mike Gregory found himself with a golden opportunity and slid the ball past Jumbo freshman goalkeeper Brain Dulmovits in the 88th minute to steal a 4-3 victory from the Jumbos.
After outplaying Salve and securing a 2-0 halftime lead, Tufts (1-3, 1-1 NESCAC) came out strong in the beginning of the second half before the Seahawks saw their first bit of daylight which came in the form of a direct kick. Sophomore midfielder Alex Clark took advantage, beating Dulmovits in the upper left corner to narrow the margin to one in the 52nd minute.
Tufts recovered from the shock of the defensive lapse briefly, but Salve found the equalizer just six minutes after Clark's goal. After making a save, Seahawk junior goalie Davin Sirpenski booted a punt almost all the way down the field and over the heads of the Tufts defense. This left Salve junior striker Eric Zimmer all alone with Dulmovits. The forward needed only to head the ball over the freshman keeper's head to tie the game at two.
Tufts did not relent, however, as it created multiple opportunities in the next ten minutes. Senior tri-captain Todd Gilbert took a shot from about 20 yards out that was saved by Sirpenski. A dangerous pass from sophomore midfielder Greg O'Connell to classmate Dan Jozwiak also created havoc inside the 18.
Tufts finally regained the lead after junior Ben Castellot pushed a header over the crossbar setting up a Salve goal kick. Jozwiak intercepted Sirpenski's attempt to clear the zone and slid the ball past the keeper in the left corner to give the Jumbos a 3-2 advantage.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Seahawks responded right off the restart. Clark hit a long, hanging shot just outside the midfield circle that Dulmovits appeared to lose in the setting sun. Dulmovits dove and deflected the ball in the air, but it bounced into the net as it came down, tying the game at three. The teams traded possession for the next 15 minutes before Gregory secured the game-winner for the Seahawks.
While Clark's equalizer could have been chalked up to bad luck, Tufts coach Ralph Ferrigno blamed his entire team's lack of focus.
"We worked hard to get [our] third goal," Ferrigno said. "But then we just weren't paying attention. [Salve's game-tying goal] was just a lack of concentration."
Knowing Jumbo teams had defeated the Seahawks in each of the squads' previous four meetings, with Tufts outscoring Salve 15-6 in that same span, the players were equally unkind in evaluating their performance.
"It's just so embarrassing," O'Connell, who headed in a corner from sophomore Andrew Drucker to open the scoring in the first half, said. "This is the type of team we should beat; no offense to Salve Regina."
Jozwiak, who hammered a shot from about 18 yards out that could have given Tufts a lead in the 77th minute, had little more to offer.
"I think we're all just speechless right now," the sophomore forward said.
It seemed like only a matter of time until a Jumbo found the back of the net as Tufts handily controlled the game in the first half. O'Connell fulfilled that prophecy with a beautifully-executed corner kick play in the 14th minute. The sophomore, who is listed at six-feet one-inch and is one of a handful of six-footers on the Tufts roster, knows how important it is to take advantage of such opportunities.
"We have so much height," O'Connell said. "We just don't have that killer instinct yet."
The other Tufts goal in the first half came off a pretty buildup that culminated in junior forward Mattia Chason feeding senior tri-captain Mike Guigli. Guigli then found the net to give the Jumbos a two-goal cushion.
Tufts dominated the run of play in the first 45 minutes, out-possessing Salve by a wide margin and barely allowing the Seahawks a look at the goal. The Jumbos continued much of their dominance in the second half, but it was a few defensive lapses that spelled the difference between victory and defeat.
"We didn't play as well in the second half," Ferrigno conceded. "But I still can't explain how we lost the game."
In a contest filled with its share of bright spots, the veteran coach was adamant that the result on the scoreboard overshadows everything his team did well yesterday.
"It's more important that we get results [than simply outplaying opponents]," Ferrigno said. "We're just leaking goals."
Next up for the Jumbos are the NESCAC rival Lord Jeffs of Amherst, who will bring a 1-0-1 record to Medford for Saturday's conference match-up. Tufts, which has lost three consecutive games at home, two to non-conference opponents, dearly needs to take advantage of its home games, as its last eight games in October feature only two contests in the friendly confines of Kraft Field.
"[Amherst is] a good team," Ferrigno said. "We just need to get over the shell-shock [of
yesterday's loss]."
