Having already knocked off New England's top team this week, a victory tomorrow over Middlebury, last year's NESCAC Champion and New England's second-ranked team, would cap off a memorable week for the women's soccer team.
"We feel like we can beat anybody now," coach Martha Whiting said. "We can breathe a little sigh of relief that we're not 0-2 and can really focus on Middlebury."
The squad would to the services of three important but injured players: senior center midfielder Lydia Claudio, junior center fullback Jen Fratto and sophomore forward Lauren Fedore.
Defense will be critical against the high-powered Middlebury offense. There is some good news, as Middlebury's top two scorers from last season, Brittany Cronin and Mayo Fujii, both graduated last spring. Middlebury's offense, led by freshman forward Ashley Pfaff and juniors Erin Oliver and Erin Pittenger, is still one of the strongest in the conference and is coming off a 5-0 midweek thrashing of non-conference Norwich.
Tufts senior tri-captains Ariel Samuelson and Sarah Callaghan will look to exploit the inexperience of Panther freshman keeper Adele Plunkett, whose lone NESCAC victory this season came at the hands of the mediocre Conn. College Camels last weekend.
Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. on Kraft Field.
-Aman Gupta
