The women's soccer team has scored eight goals this season. Four of those goals have been scored by freshmen, and two of those four have been game-winners. Suffice it to say, the young guns are earning their keep.
In a highly defensive Homecoming matchup with Bates on Saturday, freshman forward Sophie Wojtasinski scored her first collegiate goal in a timely fashion as the Jumbos took the game 1-0, moving their record to 3-2-2 overall and 2-1-1 in the conference on the season.
"The win was huge for us," senior co-captain defender Carrie Wilson said. "We hadn't won a NESCAC game since our season opener against Middlebury. Although all along we've known that we're a good team, it was really important to prove that on Saturday to everyone, but especially to ourselves. We're now halfway through our regular season games and don't have the record that we would have hoped for, so every game that gets put in the win column is a big boost."
"It was really fun to win at Kraft [Field] on Homecoming," added freshman forward Maeve Stewart, who scored a hat trick in a 3-0 win against Middlebury on opening day. "We had a few rough games at the beginning of the season, and it's nice to be back on the right track."
Wojtasinski's 27th-minute goal was a function of being in the right place at the right time, as a shot from junior midfielder Olivia Rowse deflected off the post to Wojtasinski's foot. In an impressive display of composure, Wojtasinski stuck to her basics, keeping her head down and her knee over the ball as she finished the strike and sent the Homecoming crowd into hysterics.
"There is nothing like a first collegiate goal," senior co-captain defender Sarah Nolet said. "It's one of the best feelings ever and it's great for her confidence."
"Obviously, the first collegiate goal is super exciting for any player and I bet that she remembers it for the rest of her life," Wilson added. "But what's more important is that we're getting contributions on the field from everyone. Recently at practice, we've talked about following every shot, so that she went out there and did just that and was rewarded with a goal for it is awesome."
Though the goal ultimately proved to be the game-winner, the Jumbos still had over 60 minutes left to play after Wojtasinski knocked it in. The Tufts defense was up to the task, though, allowing only two shots on goal over the course of the game. Sophomore Phoebe Hanley and freshman Kristin Wright split halves in goal and each came away with one save.
"Bates put us under more pressure during the second half, but everyone on the field just buckled down and dealt with it," Wilson said. "A lot of times, the difference between a goal against us and not is just sheer will power to keep the ball out of the net. It definitely wasn't pretty soccer near the end of the game, but we got the job done and secured the win."
The win was a vital one, as the Jumbos now sit in a tie for third in the conference standings as opposed to a tie for seventh — where they would have been had they lost the game.
With a tough road contest at Brandeis looming tomorrow night, Tufts knows that there are some aspects of their game that need to be tightened up. Last season, the team fell against Brandeis 2-0. If they hope to avoid a repeat of last year's result, they need to learn from some of the mistakes they made in their game against Bates.
"I think that we played some great soccer during the first half as we were connecting passes and creating scoring opportunities," Wilson said. "However, we could be more consistent in our energy level on the field, which sometimes falls off for short periods of time. Towards the end of the game things got very ugly from our standpoint, probably because we got a little frantic and nervous about holding onto the one goal lead. We've been working on handling these pressure situations in practice, so that hopefully during the next game that we're ahead by one, we'll remain a little more calm and composed."
Despite the threat posed by a talented Brandeis squad that's currently riding a seven-game win streak, Tufts is confident it has the tools needed to win.
Nolet made clear her feelings on the impending match: "They better watch out."
