The women's soccer team went 12-3-2, rattled off eight consecutive wins in the middle of its season, grabbed a No. 2 seed in the NESCAC Tournament behind the nation's No. 6 team, and nabbed one of 18 at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Despite that laundry list of feats, two bouts of bad luck hung a dark cloud over the end of a season that looked destined for success.
The Jumbos saw both their run at a league title - the first-ever potential NESCAC crown for anyone on the 2007 roster - and their NCAA Tournament push end in exactly the same manner, with two crushing losses in the second rounds of each.
In both games, the team played well enough to win - in the Hamilton game, Tufts outshot its opponent 33 to 17 - and in both games the Jumbos saw two scoreless overtime periods give way to a shootout round.
"It was devastating, especially since we did play such a great game [against Hamilton]," senior Joelle Emery said. "Everyone was playing well and towards the end, we were just competing against the clock. It's hard to see a game and season end in penalty kicks. It was not a good indication - we were a better team than that."
While the season came down to a matter of inches, making the sting of defeat all the more palpable, only one NCAA team is able to end its season with a win. And after the way the team played throughout the year, starting its season with victories against a slew of competitive opponents and losing just two games in one of the nation's toughest conferences, the Jumbos' lone disappointment was their inability to drive deeper into November's NCAAs.
"We were going to be disappointed with anything less than a trip to the Final Four," senior Lauren Fedore said. "Losing on penalty kicks doesn't seem fair - penalty kicks never seem to be a valid way to end a game - but we played great soccer and competed in some fantastic games."
Indeed, the Hamilton and Bowdoin games make it difficult to remember Sept. 15's 2-1 double-overtime victory over Middlebury, Oct. 6's 4-1 offensive outburst against the Polar Bears, or even Oct. 28's 6-0 first-round drubbing of Conn. College.
But as far as the numbers go, the Jumbos cannot deny that 2007 was a success - especially after 2006's disappointing 9-4-2 season and first-round NESCAC Tournament exit. The team was in the league's top three in shutouts, goals-against average, goals allowed and assists, and outscored its opponents 41-17.
Coach Martha Whiting attributes this success partly to the team's shift from its 4-4-2 formation last season to a 4-3-3 set this year, which promoted a more aggressive attack, reliant on the effective transitioning of outside forwards and defenders. Quick transitions created more offensive opportunities as the team overwhelmed defenders by pushing the ball up the field with more authority.
"I'm so glad we made that change and we'll continue to play that way next year," coach Martha Whiting said. "We still had numbers on defense and were able to dominate in the middle of the field and had numbers around the goal. In transition, we were able to get people forward and try to score."
The Jumbos' offensive potential manifested itself most overtly when they scored six goals in the first round of the conference tournament, their highest single-game scoring total since 1999.
Tufts garnered four All-NESCAC awards, as senior co-captains Martha Furtek and Annie Benedict were selected to the conference's First and Second Teams, respectively, and sophomore Cara Cadigan grabbed both Rookie of the Year and First Team honors.
On her own, Cadigan was responsible for 19 of her team's 41 goals, setting a new program record and making a surprise impact, considering she spent her entire freshman season watching from the sidelines with a torn ACL.
"We knew coming in she was already a great player, but when someone comes out like that and scores as many goals as she did, it's always a pleasant surprise," Whiting said. "She really bypassed the adjustment period."
"We lifted with Cara, played pick-up with her in the spring, and I played in a summer league with her and she really didn't shine like she did this year," Fedore said. "She excelled as a forward, but to the rest of the team's credit, she had some fantastic people giving her the ball up there."
With seven seniors on the roster and a rising sophomore star, the team had the right formula for success. Although Cadigan put the ball in the net with more frequency than any of her teammates, she was surrounded by a core of seasoned veterans who capitalized on her speed by setting her up for open shots.
"That actually had a lot to do with [Cadigan's success]," Whiting said. "We have a lot of good players on our team, fortunately, and when you surround good players with other good players it only makes them better."
And on the other side of the field, the team's veteran crew of Emery, Benedict and senior Jessie Wagner joined sophomore goaltender and first-year starter Kate Minnehan to record five shutouts.
As one of the Jumbos' most decorated senior classes graduates in May, the team will have to rely on the remaining 13 players, as well as a large interest among incoming freshmen, according to Whiting, to keep it amongst the NESCAC's best.
"It's always hard recovering from losing seniors, because they always play a big role," Emery said. "But we have a strong core that will remain next year. Martha has done a great job recruiting and trying to replace us. There will be an adjustment period, but they will have the talent to be successful next season."
