After losing its first two NESCAC games this season, the women's lacrosse team has turned its season around, having since won four straight contests. The latest was an 18-13 win over NESCAC opponent Wesleyan at home on Saturday.
"It feels great to be on such a good streak," senior co-captain Jenna Abelli said. "We're taking it one game at a time and working off the momentum from the previous games. Hopefully we'll just keep playing off that energy."
The Jumbos' offense, now with an impressive 72 goals in the team's last four games, got the team back in the game in the first half before exploding in the second half to pull away and capture the victory. Senior Emily Johnson led the assault with six goals and one assist on the game.
Wesleyan took an early 5-2 lead, but Jumbos sophomore Steph Perez helped turn the tide, scoring two straight goals that were followed by a goal by Johnson to tie the game halfway through the first half.
Wesleyan then responded with two unassisted goals, which launched the Jumbos into action. In the last 10 minutes of the half, Tufts scored three goals, including two by first-year Kaitlin Leidl, to take an 8-7 lead going into the break.
The Jumbos came out strong in the second half, scoring five goals in 11 minutes, including a pair by Abelli.
"We regrouped and refocused at halftime both on attack and defensively. We picked up the energy and did what we had to do," Abelli said.
Despite the flurry of Tufts goals, Wesleyan continued to fight hard, scoring four of the next six, and narrowing Tufts' lead to three. But with 8:22 left in the final stanza and with the score 15-12, Johnson widened the Jumbo lead with three consecutive goals.
"At first we came out not entirely on our game, but I think the most important part was that we didn't give up," Leidl said. "We knew that we should win this game, so we just had a lot of intensity, especially after halftime, and we were able to put it away after that."
The Tufts win was in large part due to the success of the team's underclassmen, as the majority of goals, save Johnson's six-goal outburst, were scored by freshmen or sophomores.
"Since the beginning of the season, our young players have improved. They've gotten a lot more confident," Abelli said. "It's been great having a lot of talented young players this year. They really contribute to the team, as was shown in the Wesleyan game."
Tufts outshot Wesleyan 36-30 and won the groundball battle 24-16. Perez had three ground balls, five draw controls and two assists, while senior co-captain Alyssa Kopp won three draw controls and picked up three ground balls. Junior Sara Bloom shined in goal with eight saves.
The Jumbos (5-2, 3-2 NESCAC) travel to Babson for a nonconference game on Tuesday and to Connecticut for their next NESCAC match against Trinity on Saturday.
"Next game, we need to come out really strong in the first 10 minutes, which is what we did during the other games in our streak," Leidl said. "Wesleyan was an exception where it took us longer to really start scoring. When we come out really strong, it really sets the tone for the rest of the game."
