Tufts' defense was awfully good in 2010.
How good? The team allowed just six goals and recorded nine shutouts, including a stretch of 574 straight scoreless minutes. The nearly spotless backline led them to a NESCAC regular season title and an 8−2−4 overall record.
But as the fall wore on, the defense also began to serve as a crutch for the squad. The team put three balls in the back of the net in the first game of the season, but never matched that goal output for the rest of the year. In the NESCAC quarterfinals, 120 minutes of scoreless soccer led to a heartbreaking season−ending penalty kick shootout.
"I think that last year we had such a great defense that we were a very defensive−minded team," senior forward Jamie Love−Nichols said.
With the new season set to kick off this weekend, it is clear that things will be different in the year to come. Three of the four members of the 2010 edition of the backline are gone, and a young contingent of players is more than ready to take their place. Up top, the Jumbos will be returning their top three goal scorers from this past season with an extra year of experience and development under their belt.
"We are returning all of our offensive players that made an impact last year," Love−Nichols said. "I think that having a more offensive mindset is going to be crucial to our team's success."
While the offensive personnel will remain largely the same, the system has gone through an off−season's worth of overhauls. The team will stick with its familiar 4−3−3 formation, but little else will stay the same. In practice, the team has focused on short connecting passes and quick movement on and off the ball. Such play could allow for a steadier supply of opportunities to the team's forwards, who only managed seven goals all season after then−freshman Maeve Stewart's opening day hat trick.
"I know that [coach] Martha [Whiting] is really trying to encourage more combination plays and more team play instead of individual play," senior midfielder Alix Michael said. "It's going to be more formulaic this year, where we are going to run certain drills to practice certain combinations so that when those situations arrive in the game, we've already done them."
In game situations, the strikers — including Stewart, her fellow sophomore Sophie Wojtasinski, and Love−Nichols, who led the squad in points this past season — will be given more defined roles. In the past Whiting has given them free rein to roam around near the 18−yard box, but she feels that more set positioning and plays could help her players to create scoring opportunities.
"We had a system we used with our forwards and how they made their runs for the last two years, and it didn't work as well as it could have," Whiting said. "So this year we are defining roles more while still giving them [the players] the chance to improvise when necessary."
The new−look offense was in full bloom this weekend, pummeling Bowdoin 5−1 in a pre−season scrimmage. But the score line came less from complete domination and more from the Jumbos making their chances count.
"We did a really good job capitalizing on our opportunities," Love−Nichols said. "I think if you look at shots on goals for both teams, it's not really the differential that the goals ended up showing."
The offense will also have the support of a veteran core of midfielders led by senior co−captains Lauren O'Connor and Olivia Rowse, plus Michael. While Michael has been an offensive threat for the team in the past with seven goals and five assists in her career, it may be the effectiveness of the trio's end−to−end play — providing opportunities for the forwards while at the same time hustling back to support the young backline — that determines the team's success this year.
Although much of the focus is on increased production up front, the youthful defense is more than capable of stepping into the large shoes of the Class of 2010. Sophomore Erin Stone has moved seamlessly into her job as a starting center back after spending her first year in the midfield. She will be paired up there with one of the team's fresh faces. The backline will be bookended with experience; seniors Cleo Hirsch and Laney Siegner will likely get the call to start at the fullback positions. While no one individual player matches the height of Sarah Nolet (LA '10), the line may actually be taller across the board.
"We were able to drop [Erin] back into the back, and it's like she's a natural," Whiting said. "I think as the four get together they will look better and better each time, but right now it looks really promising and I'm really excited about them."
The Jumbos open the season with a quartet of home matches, including a pair of NESCAC tilts. It all begins Saturday afternoon against Middlebury, a team Tufts buried 3−0 almost exactly one year ago — setting the tone for their successful run. But the team has no doubts that this weekend's matchup will be a tough affair.
"I think we are definitely stronger than Middlebury again this year, and I don't see any reason that we can't put up the same kind of result if we come ready to play, which I know we will," O'Connor said.
Tufts has some big−time goals coming into its 2011 campaign, and the team has the talent to make them happen. They want to capture both the regular−season conference title and the NESCAC tournament.
For the senior class, it is the last chance to reach the NCAAs after three years of disappointing finishes.
"Since we've been here, we've always had the potential to win the NESCAC and really perform," O'Connor said. "Unfortunately, we've hit some rough spots toward the end of the season back−to−back−to−back years. So we are definitely going to go into this postseason with a different attitude and take nothing for granted."
