After weeks of preparation and two scrimmages against Div. II schools, the women's lacrosse team will finally get its season underway this Saturday with an away game against Amherst, the team that tied with Tufts at 6-3 in last season's NESCAC standings.
The Jeffs will certainly pose tough competition for the Jumbos, as the squad was ranked No. 12 in the nation in last season's final Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll and posted an impressive 7-0 overall record in home matches. Amherst bookmarked Tufts' season with an 11-8 win at Bello Field on opening day and a 11-9 victory in the quarterfinals, knocking Tufts out of the conference tournament.
"Obviously we lost last year to them in the NESCAC's, so we're really excited to play Amherst again," senior tri-captain Lily Colahan said. "We're really confident that we can come out and play strongly from the start."
Tufts will come out looking to prove that it can cope with the absence of its two top goal-scorers from last season, Emily Johnson (LA '10) and Jenna Abelli (E '10), in addition to the loss of First Team All-American Alyssa Kopp (LA '10). Together, Johnson and Abelli accounted for 41.8 percent of Tufts' goals, while Kopp was the ultimate all-around player, anchoring the midfield and transitioning the team quickly to attack.
"We have a group of strong juniors who are ready to step up," senior tri-captain goalie Sara Bloom said. "We just have to stay patient and not get frustrated."
The Jeffs last year played with an opposite style — very little offense (they scored a NESCAC-low 143 goals) and an unforgiving defense (conference-best in overall goals against). And although just short of an NCAA tournament birth last season, Amherst senior co-captains attacker Kelley Trapp and defender Liz Foye will be looking to continue last season's consistent performance.
"I think we are just a more talented team than them," Colahan said. "We know we have [the] ability to beat them, we just have to go out and do it."
The Jumbos are looking to avoid a repeat of last year's NESCAC tournament, when they lost by just two goals to Amherst in a competitive quarterfinal. In that game, Amherst followed its tried-and-true formula: play strong defense, and then strike on the counterattack. In fact, Amherst scored three times in a span of 2:34 in the first half and never relinquished the lead after that point.
The game will also mark the start of a very difficult early season schedule for the Jumbos, which features road games in six out of the first seven matchups. After Saturday's game against Amherst, Tufts will travel next weekend to face Colby, last year's NESCAC tournament finalists and winners of two of the last three conference championships.
"I don't think it will make that much of a difference [to play on the road]," Colahan said. "There's not that much of a difference in terms of the crowd and the time on the bus helps us bond as a team."
But more importantly, the game will represent the first opportunity for this season's team to play together on a truly competitive level. The squad will be relying on the juniors — most notably midfielder Steph Perez and attacker Lara Kozin — especially since Colahan fractured her hand and may be out for the season. Colahan's injury means the team is left with only two active captains, senior defender Yael Tzipori and Bloom.
"Amherst has a very patient team, and they will take advantage of any mistakes," Bloom said. "If we can stay calm and play our game, we'll be successful."
