Following Tuesday's non−conference win over UMass Dartmouth in double overtime, the men's soccer team finally seemed to have found the offensive firepower that it was lacking for much of the season. Against the Corsairs, the Jumbos recorded season−high marks in shots, shots on goal and goals — registering 22, 11 and three, respectively.
Entering a critical conference doubleheader weekend against Williams and Bates, the Jumbos knew that they needed to continue their strong play in the attacking third if they wanted to move into the upper part of the NESCAC table and stay in contention for a conference championship and NCAA tournament berth.
"Coach has emphasized having confidence and composure around the net even when under pressure," sophomore midfielder Scott Blumenthal said. "Going into the weekend, we wanted six points or at least four and knew we needed to continue scoring."
The Jumbos were clearly up to this challenge as four different players contributed to five weekend goals, giving Tufts two crucial conference victories. After beating Williams 2−1 and Bates 3−2, Tufts moved to 4−2−2 in the NESCAC, boosting the team into a three−waythird−place tie with Trinity and Williams.
Against Bates on Sunday, Tufts fell behind in the 10th minute when Bobcats junior midfielder John Murphy found junior back Nick Barron on a corner kick from the right side. Barron eluded his defender, made a strong run toward the goal and headed the ball solidly past senior tri−captain goalkeeper Alan Bernstein to give the host Bobcats an early advantage. For the fifth time this season, Tufts had to play the rest of the match from behind.
"I honestly never thought that we were going to lose," junior midfielder Rafael Ramos−Meyer said. "If we continued to play our game, we thought that the better team would end up on top."
Fortunately, Tufts' equalizer came just moments later. In the 18th minute, freshman midfielder Gus Santos laid the ball off to junior Franco Silva, who fired a shot from 40 yards out. The strike, Silva's only shot on goal of the match, darted the diving Bates goalkeeper, senior Brian Goldberg, and ended up in the back of the net. It was Silva's third collegiate goal and drew Tufts level midway through the first half.
In the 66th minute, freshman Kyle Volpe played a nifty ball to Santos, giving him a scoring opportunity. Santos corralled the pass and sent a shot past Goldberg for his fourth goal of the season. With a 2−1 lead and less than half an hour to play, the Jumbos' mindset changed as they tried to preserve the lead.
"Coach put in some guys who hadn't played a lot, and they did well," Blumenthal said. "But I guess we just kind of fell asleep because the guy who scored was who we knew we had to watch all game."
The Bobcats' response came in the 74th minute when freshman defender Tyler Schleich sent a ball across the face of the Jumbos' goal which sophomore forward Tyler Grees headed past Bernstein to level the score once again.
The 2−2 score held, and the two teams entered sudden−death overtime, where the Jumbos have had plenty of experience and success this season, going 2−0−2 in matches decided past the 90th minute.
Tufts' trend of strong overtime play continued on Sunday, as the Jumbos once again took three points with a golden goal. This time, Volpe was the hero, as he headed in a feed from Ramos−Meyer to give Tufts the victory.
"At halftime, I think coach made a comment about how Volpe had been stepping up in the box," Blumenthal said. "And then he puts the header in after Rafa [Ramos−Meyer] set him up off the corner kick."
On Saturday, Tufts squared off with Williams — a team that they had only beaten once since 1995 — in front of a raucous Homecoming crowd. From the very beginning, the Jumbos fed off the unusually electric atmosphere at Kraft Field.
"The stands were absolutely packed, and the fans continued to motivate us all game long," Blumenthal said.
Freshman forward MaximeHoppenot got the scoring started toward the beginning of the first half when he generated the first goal of the match. The sequence began as Hoppenot delivered a long throw from the right sideline into the Ephs box.
After taking a deflection off a Williams defender, Hoppenot controlled the loose ball and sent a strike inside the far post to give Tufts the lead and its fans something to cheer about early.
"Clearly getting the goal was huge for us because it really solidified our position in the game," Ramos−Meyer said. "Our fans continued to push us to play harder as the game wore on."
Hoppenot added a second goal in the 41st minute after receiving a lead pass from sophomore forward JonoEdelman.
After corralling the ball, Hoppenot beat Williams junior goalkeeper Than Finan to extend the Jumbos' lead heading into the break.
Williams dominated play in the second half, recording 11 shots to the Jumbos' five, but was only able to produce one goal. Bernstein led the way for Tufts defensively with six saves to help preserve the victory.
Tufts plays its last home match of the season tomorrow against non−conference foe Suffolk. The visiting Rams are 5−9−1 overall and fell 2−0 to the Jumbos last season.
