The Jumbos have been falling into a bad pattern in recent weeks, and it finally caught up to them.
Tufts has had some fantastic comeback victories this season, but its penchant for playing from behind cost it in two one-goal losses last week against Colby, 11-12 on Saturday and Babson, 15-14, Thursday afternoon.
Tufts held a 5-3 advantage when Colby went on a run toward the end of the first half. The Mules found holes in the Jumbo defense, and pressured the cage for the last five minutes. Sophomore goalie Gillian Kline, who made 11 saves on the day, could not stop the Colby onslaught, as the Mules scored five-straight times to take an 8-5 lead. The Jumbos added a goal just before the whistle to cut the halftime deficit to two.
As has been the pattern for much of the season, coach Carol Rappoli substituted senior Tracy Rittenour into the goal for Kline in the second half. The move paid off, and the game turned into a defensive struggle for the next 20 minutes, with Colby holding a 10-7 edge as the clock went down under the 10-minute mark.
But the Jumbos staged a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, scoring three unanswered goals in the span of 3:26, and tying the game at 10 with just over six minutes to play.
The Mules quickly responded with two goals. Freshman attack Amy Campbell scored a free position goal with just 4:40 left to hand her team the lead, and sophomore attack Lauren Strazzula quickly added the second. Tufts cut the lead to one on a goal from junior attack Sarah Williams with just 1:11 left, but it was too little too late as the Jumbos could not net the equalizer and suffered their second one-goal loss of the week.
The squad will look to get back on track tomorrow when it hosts Bridgewater State at 6 p.m., the first of three consecutive home games.
-by Ethan Landy
