A week ago, the men's soccer team traveled to Trinity with hopes of breaking away from the bottom of the NESCAC standings and ensuring itself a spot in the conference playoffs. But the Jumbos' offense proved anemic, and they fell to the Bantams 1-0 as sophomore Peter Marlette scored the game-winning goal 10 minutes into overtime.
This weekend, the story was similar. After defeating Bowdoin 3-1 on the road in a crucial victory on Friday to earn the No. 6 seed in the NESCAC Tournament, the Jumbos were back in Hartford, Conn. yesterday for a rematch with the nationally ranked No. 22 Bantams in the quarterfinals.
And once again, the offense failed to deliver, as Trinity blanked Tufts 2-0.
"I think we all thought we had a good matchup," senior tri-captain Dave McKeon said. "We were excited; we thought we could beat them. It was a matchup we all wanted."
"We were excited to make the playoffs," junior tri-captain Bear Duker said. "We did a great job winning Friday when we had to. We didn't care who we were playing, but we thought we matched up well with Trinity, so we were happy."
Unfortunately for the Jumbos, the game did not turn out the way they had initially hoped, as they suffered their fifth conference shutout loss of the season.
Marlette again led the Bantam attack, using fancy footwork to take the ball up the right sideline to the Tufts goal in the 20th minute. McKeon saved Marlette's shot as well as a second, but Trinity senior forward Nick Cantone turned around a second rebound and gave the Bantams a 1-0 lead that they did not relinquish.
"The kick came in and I hit it out, but unluckily it went right to one of their players," McKeon said. "He shot and it barely got over the goal line before I saved it. The guy made a great play to get it in; it was an unlucky goal, but I guess they deserved it."
Trinity tallied an insurance goal in the 77th minute when junior midfielder Chris Doran netted an easy goal after putting a move on a Tufts defender with McKeon out of position. Both Marlette and Cantone tallied assists on the play.
"They got behind us somehow," McKeon said. "I made a decision to come out, and he made a pass to an open guy and he put it away."
Despite the final score, Tufts was not without opportunities. Junior forward Dan Schoening, the lead Jumbo goal-scorer this season, attempted a shot from 18 yards away on an open net when a Trinity defender fell down and senior goalie Zac Trudeau was caught out of position. But the shot sailed over the top of the goalpost.
The Jumbos also controlled the ball for a great deal of the second half, as Doran's goal was Trinity's only shot attempt in the frame. But as was the case throughout the day, the Jumbos could not take advantage, missing all six of their second-half shots. In the game, the Jumbos fired 11 shots, only four of which were on goal.
Trinity took 14 shots in the contest, including 13 in the first half, eight of which were on goal. McKeon finished with six saves to Trudeau's four, but Trudeau recorded the shutout victory.
"We had a couple good opportunities but didn't put them away; Trinity put away two of theirs," Duker said. "We've been up and down this year, but we've come on strong lately. It's just too bad we couldn't score today."
Tufts finishes the season 8-6-1, with all six of the losses coming against NESCAC opponents. Trinity improves to 11-4 and will advance to the semifinals of the conference tourney for the first time in school history. All of the top seeds advanced through the first round, and No. 3-seeded Trinity will take on No. 2 Amherst while No. 1 Middlebury will face No. 4 Williams Saturday at Middlebury. The winners of those matchups will square off Sunday for the NESCAC title.
"I think that it's a very disappointing way to end my career," McKeon said. "We had a great team this year. We know we could've done more than just going here, but we had a great time and it was a great group of guys and I'm excited to see what comes of future seasons."
