Everything that was going so right for the men's soccer team in late September is now going dreadfully wrong in October.
In a familiar storyline, Tufts let a second−half lead disappear before falling to UMass Dartmouth, 3−2, in double overtime on Tuesday. The Jumbos have now lost three straight games and have a losing record for the first time since Sept. 25.
"We came away with a really sour, bitter taste in our mouths because that was one of the best games offensively that we've played, and to come out of it with a loss, and not even a tie, hurt a lot," junior defender Jesse Poon said.
The Jumbos were done in by a pair of late goals by first−year Corsairs. It looked as though Tufts had the victory in hand before freshman forward Brenton Beaufils put away a rebound to equalize with just over a minute left in regulation.
Then, with less than two minutes left in the second overtime period, and after at least three Tufts shots hitting the post, Corsair freshman forward Victor Ferreira chipped in a shot from 30 yards out that caught Tufts junior keeper Alan Bernstein off his line. The ball fell into the back of the net, putting the game away for UMass Dartmouth.
"Soccer is a game of bounces, and sometimes they go your way, and sometimes they don't," senior quad−captain Chris Flaherty said. "Tonight, they just didn't go our way."
Everything was clicking early for the Jumbos, who outshot the Corsairs 8−5 in the first half. Sophomore Kieran Lewis came in off the bench for the Jumbos early in the half and promptly found himself at the center of the action.
In the 17th minute, fellow sophomore John Lewis found space outside the box and played a cross to the post. Kieran saw his opportunity and with one touch redirected it into the back of the net. It was the first goal of Kieran Lewis' collegiate career and the first career point for Lewis.
But Kieran Lewis was not done. Less than two minutes later, senior quad−captain Ron Coleman worked the ball to Kieran Lewis once again. He settled it before lofting it into the net, doubling the Jumbos lead.
"Keiran has been working hard all year, and he's been a great addition to the team," Poon said. "He's a good guy, he brings a lot of passion to the game, and he's very talented. People on the team felt, and he felt, that he was due for a goal, so having him get those first two early on was awesome, and you could tell he was really excited, and it really pumped the team up."
It seemed like Tufts was in control of the game, but the Corsairs seemed to tire the Jumbos out with physical play that led to three yellow cards for UMass Dartmouth. The Corsairs got a foothold on the game and would not let go. Ten minutes after the break, a poor tackle in the box by a Tufts defender had head referee Delfim Rainho signaling for a penalty kick. Senior UMass Dartmouth midfielder Mike Alves stepped up to the spot and, with the pressure on, slipped one past Bernstein to reduce the deficit to one.
"We came out really disorganized in the first ten minutes of the second half, and we gave up a weak penalty kick," Poon said.
Tufts continued to control much of the play in the second half, but UMass Dartmouth increased its pressure in the last ten minutes. While the Jumbos almost withstood the storm, a late shot from freshman forward Anthony Basile was not cleared, and after a scramble in the box, the ball fell to Beaufils, who netted a scrappy goal for the equalizer.
"It didn't feel to us like they should have scored, and we felt as though we dominated the entire game, and so that hurt a lot," Poon said.
The game eerily resembled the Jumbos' last non−conference match, another Tuesday night game where Tufts had control before letting the lead slip away late. The two defeats, combined with a loss this past Sunday to Colby, have the Jumbos' confidence plummeting.
Luckily, only one of the three games in their losing streak has been a conference match. Tufts still ranks sixth in the NESCAC, despite having played one less conference game than most of their rivals. If the Jumbos can turn things around in the next week or so, they have plenty of time to put together a strong finish.
"Even with these past couple setbacks, we're confident we can turn things around quickly," Flaherty said. "We know we have the ability, and we've shown that with some of our wins this season."
"We really need to focus on our NESCAC games so we can get a home playoff game," Poon said. "I think we can definitely be really dangerous because our offense is really starting to come together."
Their first opportunity comes this Saturday at Trinity, with kickoff set for 12 noon in Hartford, Conn. The Bantams sit one point below Tufts in the table, making it a key game for the Jumbos to define themselves as a contender in the conference.
"Trinity has always played us really tough, so we know that we need to fix some of the mistakes of the last couple of games, the lapses in focus and concentration, and really bring our best effort in order to get back on the right foot and make a charge for a top−four finish," Flaherty said. Alex Lach contributed reporting to this article.
