In Saturday's 1-0 victory over Wesleyan, senior forward Whitney Hardy scored what turned out to be the game's only goal in the first minute of play. In Tuesday night's match against Babson, the game would start the same way. The only difference was that this time, it was the Jumbos who were retrieving the ball from the back of their own net.
Babson junior forward Kristy Benoit scored less than two minutes into the game, netting what would stand as the game winner in a 1-0 victory for the host Beavers. On one of the game's first attacks, Benoit took a through ball from sophomore midfielder Annie Kenney and calmly chipped it over Tufts' senior goalkeeper Kate Minnehan.
"We were caught off guard," senior co-captain forward Cara Cadigan said. "It's never fun to feel like you have to dig yourself out of a hole, which is what we had to do."
Over the next 88 minutes, and especially in the second half, Tufts would control the game, with play rarely leaving Babson's end of the field. The Jumbos outshot their opponents 25-3 — 17-1 in the second half — but their efforts came up short.
"Right after they scored we really recaptured the momentum and started playing well, especially possessing the ball," junior midfielder Geneva DeGregorio said.
The Beavers played with a compact defensive mentality that allowed Tufts to possess the ball in their half but denied the Jumbos the necessary space to create legitimate opportunities around the net. Many of Tufts' chances came on shots from outside the box.
"It's pretty telling that we clearly dominated the second half if we outshot them by eight times," Cadigan said. "It's frustrating to not be able to put that goal away and to have [to] come away losing a game we could have won."
The Jumbos' best opportunity came in the 54th minute, when senior midfielder Fanna Gamal hit a shot from outside the box that nailed the crossbar. Sophomore forward Alix Michael collected the rebound and managed to get a shot on target, but Babson junior goalie Sarah Macary snared one of her eight saves to preserve the lead.
"It was frustrating, but sometimes soccer is an unforgiving game," DeGregorio said. "But we've been on the other side of it too, in games that maybe we didn't deserve to win and luck was in our favor. It's frustrating, but that's how the game is."
The Jumbos noted that while the result didn't go in their favor, there are still many positives that came out of the game.
"Even though we lost, we still had the majority of possession and we still played really well," DeGregorio said. "We're taking it as a learning experience. If you let down even for a minute and lose focus, it can change the whole game. Playing for 85 minutes isn't good enough, especially at this level."
"It only would have taken one shot to tie it up and two to win. If we had twenty five, we definitely should have converted at least two of them," Cadigan added. "But it's just something else to work on and make sure we improve."
The Jumbos expect to put the loss behind them quickly before Saturday's game at Bates, where they will look to post their second straight NESCAC win. Tufts' last loss to Bates came in 2005, and they have shut out the Bobcats on three consecutive occasions, including last year's 2-0 victory on homecoming weekend.
Both squads will enter the game with 1-2 NESCAC records, making this matchup a crucial one: With six conference schools amassing at least two losses, the result of the contest will have a significant impact on each team's NESCAC standing.
"Bates is always tough, but I think we're looking forward to playing them and getting back on track as quickly as possible," DeGregorio said.
"We expect them to come out hard, so we have to come out hard, too," Cadigan added. "We can't really wait back on our heels to start playing because that's what we did [on Tuesday]. We have to start out strong, and we need to be able to convert our shots to goals."
