Fingers crossed, the women's soccer team awaited news of an at-large bid from the selection committee on Sunday night. The scene was similar to one that played out a year ago, as the Jumbos, recently upset in the NESCAC title game, counted on season-long regional dominance to carry them to the NCAA tournament.
But this time, the news was no top New England ranking, no run to the conference title game to bank on, and the NCAA was not so kind. Granting NESCAC only a single at-large bid, to runner-up Amherst, the selection committee ended the 2006 season for the Jumbos.
"When you are a part of something that special and then its over in a flash, it's just so sad," coach Martha Whiting said. "It's like breaking up with someone; you see them every day, and then all of a sudden you don't. There is a grieving process."
"It would have been great to get a bid," senior tri-captain Annie Ross said. "And while we did have a good season, I don't think we necessarily deserved it. The reality is, we didn't win the game we needed to win."
The Jumbos fell in the first round of the NESCAC tournament to long-time rival Bates on Oct. 29, crushing their chances at a NESCAC championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that comes with it.
But the team refused to let that dark cloud mar a successful season.
"While we didn't imagine our season ending the way it did, the end can't take away from what we did all season," Ross said. "We worked hard and never gave up, and I think those are the hallmarks of the '06 team."
While the Jumbos started slowly this season against Colby, Amherst and Middlebury, struggling to score after losing their top four offensive players to graduation last May, they turned it around and amassed a six-game winning streak in the prime of their season, winning 10 of their last 12 match-ups.
"When a team starts 0-2-2, the season can go one of two ways," Whiting said. "They can either believe they are an 0-2-2 team, or they can believe they are champions. I think where we went this season, and the constant improvement we made says a lot about the character of these girls."
"I think we had an unbelievable season," junior Joelle Emery added. "After losing our first few games, we turned it around and had an amazing run. The improvement we made over the season was great to watch."
The Jumbos dominated NESCAC rivals Bates, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Trinity, Williams and Conn. College, compiling three shutouts and earning a NESCAC record of 6-1-2 to finish in second place in the conference.
"It was impressive to finish in second place in the NESCAC, especially after bringing seven new players to the team," Emery said.
Though the 2006 season has ended, the Jumbos have a bright future ahead of them, returning all of their offensive leaders, including juniors Lauren Fedore, who finished the season with nine goals and one assist for a total of 19 points, and Martha Furtek, who finished the season with three goals and six assists for 12 points.
The Tufts offense will return largely intact for the 2007 season, losing only senior tri-captain Kim Harrington.
"The more the offense plays together, the better they are going to be," Whiting said. "Next year they are going to be that much more confident and that much stronger."
Defensively, the Jumbos combined solid goalkeeping and stellar backfield efforts to turn out an excellent defensive season that included six shutouts. But the loss of senior tri-captains Jen Fratto in the backfield and Ross in net will open some key holes in the defense. Ross did not miss a minute this season in goal, compiling an impressive .788 save percentage. The rest of the Jumbo defense combined to hold opponents to just 18 goals this season.
"There will be a big hole in the defense, losing Fratto and Annie," Whiting said. "They were the anchors of our defense for the past couple years. The bright spot is that we have three returning backs who are ready to take on that leadership role."
While the Jumbos will lose three seniors to graduation, they still have a young team that will look forward to 2007. The Jumbos have not lost a regular-season game on Kraft since 2003, and will look to continue that winning trend next season.
