Julia Browne and Meghan McCooey, Women's Tennis
The doubles team of sophomore Julia Browne and junior Meghan McCooey won the Div. III doubles title Friday afternoon at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Small College Championships.
The runners-up at the ITA New England Championships at MIT on Sept. 28, Browne and McCooey were invited to take part in the Small College Championships after the regional champions from Williams declined.
Browne and McCooey took advantage, upsetting the top-seeded and No. 4 nationally ranked pairing of Katie Tabb and Lauren Claire from Washington and Lee in the first round on Thursday. After dropping the first set, Browne and McCooey fought back to take the second 7-5 and then won the tiebreaker 10-5.
On Friday, the Tufts duo beat the tournament's No. 3 seeded team from Coe College in straight sets. In the championship match later that day, they recorded a dominating 6-2, 6-2 victory over Marta Drane and Kristin Cobb from Denison, who were seeded second in the tournament and ranked No. 5 nationally.
As the Div. III winners, Browne and McCooey moved on to the "Super Bowl" bracket of the tournament, which also included the Div. II, NAIA and JUCO victors, to determine the overall small college champion. They fell to the NAIA winners from Auburn University-Montgomery 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday.
Dave McKeon, Men's Soccer
Senior tri-captain Dave McKeon led the soccer team to its biggest win of the season Saturday, upsetting national No. 24 Williams 3-1 on Kraft Field. It was the first time since 1994 that Tufts trumped Williams, ending a 13-game winless streak against the Ephs.
McKeon recorded nine saves in the effort while also assisting on the Jumbos' first goal of the game. Seeing that the Jumbos' attackers were even with the Ephs' defenders, McKeon punted the ball all the way downfield, where it was recovered by junior forward Dan Schoening. Schoening immediately knocked it past Williams' keeper, putting Tufts up 1-0. It was the first assist of McKeon's career.
Later in the game, McKeon again contributed to the Jumbo offense, though it did not show up in the stat sheet. An excellent goal kick from McKeon set up sophomore Mike Fitzgerald's unassisted goal in the 88th minute, giving Tufts another insurance goal.
McKeon allowed a goal less than a minute later, losing the shutout in the 89th minute, but it was a futile comeback attempt for Williams.
Currently 2-4-0 in the NESCAC, Tufts will look to move up in the standings as it takes on 2-2-2 Wesleyan at home tomorrow.
