After a semifinal loss to Bowdoin ended the women's soccer team's pursuit of a NESCAC championship on Nov. 3, the squad's seven seniors wanted just one more chance. A class whose résumé included over 40 wins, a .750 winning percentage against conference opponents and a trip to the 2005 Final Four hoped for the opportunity to write a more fitting end to its storied tenure at Tufts.
The NCAA selection committee granted the Jumbos their wish, sending the team to the NCAA Tournament for just the fifth time in program history. Although Tufts' postseason run would be cut short by a second-round penalty-kick loss to Hamilton, the Class of 2008 was just glad to have bowed out on college soccer's biggest stage.
"We weren't going to go out any other way," senior forward Lauren Fedore said. "Everybody wants to leave their mark on the program in their last season. After getting knocked out in the NESCAC Tournament, it was very heartening to receive another opportunity to get out on the field and play soccer."
The group of seniors - which includes Fedore, midfielders Rebecca Abbott and Martha Furtek and defenders Annie Benedict, Julia Brown, Joelle Emery and Jessie Wagner - graduates today as one of the most successful classes in school history. In a program that's had just two losing seasons in its 29-year history, it's no small achievement that the Class of 2008's lasting image will be its winning ways.
"I think the legacy of this class is the unbelievable success that they had and how well they represented our team and our university," coach Martha Whiting said. "They were great leaders; they were a very talented group - to have so many talented players in one class is just very fortunate - and they were experienced. If you were to look over their four-year career here, they might have one of the most successful tenures of any class we've ever had."
The Class of 2008 made its presence felt early on, as both Furtek and Emery started all but two of the team's games during their freshman year in 2004. By the time they were sophomores, Benedict, whose sister Catherine was a mainstay in Whiting's lineup from 2001 to 2004, firmly entrenched herself alongside Emery in the starting defense, while Fedore also earned her share of starts.
In addition, the group was bolstered by two newcomers in Wagner and Brown, both of whom transferred to Tufts ahead of the 2005 season. Their additions, along with the quick maturation of the young returning players, paved the way for a historic campaign, the best of today's graduates' four-year tenure.
The highlight was the team's run through the NCAA Tournament, which featured a come-from-behind win over regional powerhouse Wheaton in the Sweet Sixteen, a penalty-kick victory over Oneonta State in the Elite Eight and, subsequently, a berth in the Final Four.
"It's pretty much all you could ask for as a collegiate player," Emery said. "It's definitely something that people who grow up playing soccer and watching college soccer dream about as a kid but don't really think is attainable. It was really just an unreal season."
The sophomore class was no small contributor to the postseason drive. Down 2-0 at halftime against Wheaton, the Class of 2008 was all over the monumental second-half comeback. Wagner assisted on the team's first goal, Furtek tied the game and assisted on the go-ahead score, and Fedore added an insurance tally to give the Jumbos a comfortable two-goal lead. They went on to win 5-2 thanks to an offensive outburst that Lyons coach Luis Reis called "the most explosive half I've seen in my nine years of coaching."
"Our coaches believed in us, and our teammates knew that we needed to step up and contribute in order to be successful," Furtek said. "We were nervous, but we knew that we were just as much a part of the team as the juniors or the seniors were, and that we needed to do our part in order to be successful."
After battling through a pair of ACL injuries in her freshman and sophomore years, Abbott joined the fray in 2006, starting all 31 games she appeared in over the last two seasons. But unfortunately for the Jumbos, a string of bad luck prevented the team from matching the excitement or success of 2005.
In the Class of 2008's junior year, Tufts saw its season end after the first round of the NESCAC Tournament, when seventh-seeded Bates scored a game-winning goal in overtime, thanks to a 40-mile-per-hour wind gust in its favor.
This season, Hamilton pushed a Final Four-minded Jumbos squad to penalty kicks, where the Continentals prevailed by a narrow 4-3 margin.
"Especially in 2006, when we lost to Bates - not necessarily because of the wind, but that was a huge factor - that was really tough for all of us," Furtek said. "And again this year, nobody likes to lose on penalty kicks. It's not really a true measure of how successful and how good your team is. But that's the game. Everybody's been through it; everybody's lost a game that they thought they should have won."
Still, after the run they've put together over the last few seasons, the seniors insist they are leaving with no regrets.
"I don't think I could ever be disappointed," Emery said. "I've had a great four years here."
