Rain washed away day two of the Metro Boston Sectionals last weekend, but not before one Tufts ultimate team virtually locked up a spot at Regionals and another put itself in a position to do the same.
The ultimate team, which fielded three teams for sectionals for the first time in its history, was led by the E-Men, who won three of their four games. The B-Men, who won two of their four games, also have a chance to qualify. The top six teams from a field of 16 will earn as spot at Regionals.
They will have to wait until this weekend, however, when the tournament concludes, after rain scratched Sunday's play.
"[Sectionals] were held in Rhode Island, and there was inclement weather and it rained all day," senior Evan Ream said. "The owner of the fields did not want us to tear them up, so they did not let us play on them."
As of press time, the Tufts teams were still waiting to hear from the Sectionals coordinator when and where the tournament will be held, but the players are confident that it will be held sometime this
weekend.
After starting their tournament with two easy wins, the E-Men ran into their first test in the form of Boston College. Though the E-Men walked away with a 13-9 victory, they weren't entirely satisfied with their play.
"We were a little disappointed with our performance because it shouldn't have been as close as it was," Ream said. "We never doubted that we were going to win, but it was one of those games that you want to win quickly so you can rest your players. It was annoying because we kept trading points [with BC]."
The win put the E-Men at the top of their pool, securing a semifinal berth against Boston University. One win away from clinching a spot in Regionals, the team stumbled and suffered an 11-9 loss.
"We knew it was a big game for us, and I think we came out scared because there was a lot of pressure," Ream said. "We were quite disappointed with that loss because it was a game that we needed to win, and felt like it was a game we should have won."
The game was the third meeting between the two teams this season, with the E-Men taking the first contest at UMass Amherst on Apr. 8 and 9, and BU winning the next head-to-head in the Yale Cup on Apr. 15 and 16.
While the E-Men cannot win the tournament championship, they can still qualify for second place. With Brandeis as the next opponent, the team feels certain that it will get the win it needs to clinch a spot at Regionals.
The B-Men, on the other hand, have a little more work to do to secure a bid after dropping their last two games of the day. The team, however, feels confident of victory against its next competitor Wentworth, as Wentworth only narrowly beat the Tufts-C squad, 12-10.
After that, the Jumbos would likely have to beat MIT and Brandeis, the latter of which beat Tufts 12-7 last weekend.
"[The B-Men's loss to Brandeis] was the last game of the day," B-Men captain Craig Milch said. "We let our intensity down. That's been one of the issues that we have to work on, so we'll have to keep up the intensity next Saturday."
The big win of the day for the B-Men came in game two of the tournament, when they rallied from a 9-3 deficit to beat Bentley 13-11. If the B-Men have more wins like the Bentley victory up their sleeve, they have a chance to become the first Tufts B-team to earn a trip to Regionals.
"For a B-team to make it to the regional tournament is somewhat unheard of, so that would reflect well on our program," Ream said.
Tufts-C squad, in addition to the loss to Wentworth, dropped its other two matches of the tournament.
