It was too little, too late on Saturday for the women's lacrosse team. After falling behind 11−5 to the nationally unranked Amherst Lord Jeffs in the season opener, the No. 9 Jumbos went on a run in the last five minutes to close the gap to three before time ran out. The 11−8 final margin drops the team to 0−1 in both overall record and in the NESCAC standings.
The late spark was triggered by a series of quickly controlled draws that led to two Tufts goals in an 11−second span. The first came from sophomore midfielder Steph Perez at 4:24 left in the game and the second from senior attacker Emily Johnson — her fourth in the game.
"I think that we finally felt a sense of urgency," Perez said of the late surge. "In the beginning of the game we weren't fighting as hard for balls, but we saw time was running down, so we realized we needed to step it up and do something with the ball."
With the score at 11−7 and just over four minutes left to play, the draw was key. Tufts needed to control the draw and the ball for the rest of the game in order to prevent the Lord Jeffs from running out the clock. But Amherst won possession, and the Jumbos were only able to capitalize on one more opportunity after a turnover yielded a goal from sophomore midfielder Casey Egan at 2:27 remaining. The Jeffs continued to use the clock to their advantage, controlling possession and slowing the game down. Ultimately, the buzzer sounded too early for a scrambling Tufts squad.
Tufts' deficit was built early in the first half, as Amherst junior midfielder Kelley Trapp helped her team build a four−goal lead by scoring once and notching five assists in the first 21 minutes of play. In the opening minutes, two Trapp assists to Amherst freshman offensive midfielder Wyatt Davis put the visitors up 2−0.
Then, Johnson answered with her first goal at 21:43 left in the period. However, Trapp would feed two more to sophomore attacker Allie Horwitz before Johnson scored unassisted again. With the score 4−2, Trapp assisted Horwitz a third time and scored one of her own to knock the Jumbos down by four. After freshman midfielder Kerry Eaton's first career goal, the Jumbos headed into halftime unexpectedly down by three, needing to regroup.
"We just decided we needed to communicate more and just be more composed on the ball," Perez said. "We turned it over a lot in the beginning, which resulted in quick Amherst goals, so we decided the most important part of the game is possession — ‘if we have it, they don't.' We definitely just came together and calmed down. It helped a lot."
Egan started the second half with a goal for Tufts, and it looked briefly as if a comeback was in order. But a four−goal Lord Jeffs run rattled the defense, and the Jumbos weren't able to recover, despite the eventual run of their own.
"I think the biggest thing has been inconsistency," senior co−captain Alyssa Kopp said. "I think we have a lot of potential, and it showed for 10 minutes at a time; we just need to play together as a team for 60 minutes without spurts and short breakdowns. I think we're beginning to become comfortable with each other on the field more and more, and we'll be able to figure it out before our next games."
Tufts outshot Amherst 23−21, but Amherst managed to fire off one more shot on goal. Junior goalkeeper Sara Bloom finished with five saves in the match, while Johnson rounded out her offensive performance with six draw controls, one caused turnover and one ground ball.
Tomorrow, the Jumbos will travel to Wellesley for their first non−conference game of the season. The Jumbos have beaten the Blue by an average of 12 goals per game the last five seasons, and they look to the game as an opportunity to work out the early−season kinks that plagued them on Saturday.
"I think it will be really beneficial because you can only do so much when you practice against your own team," Perez said. "Especially for attack, playing against a team we're not familiar with I think will really help us find our sense of rhythm and flow on offense."
"That's the biggest advantage of playing a team like Wellesley: It gives us a chance for people to get really comfortable and build some confidence in those players that haven't played on this level as much," Kopp added. "They can get to see how this team can be at our best, how the offense is supposed to run and the defense is supposed to work. But still, it's always a big game for us."
