Nearly 10 minutes into the second half on Saturday, the No. 14 women's lacrosse team was in danger of suffering a bitterly disappointing start to its season. Trailing No. 7 Hamilton 6-3, the Jumbos were consistently getting beaten to loose balls by the NESCAC debutants, and they endured prolonged stretches on defense as the Continentals maintained possession and tried to put the game out of reach.
But the Jumbos refused to give in. Boosted by senior attackman Kelly Hyland's goal with 10:28 to go, they elevated their play, scored five of the last six goals and — after senior tri-captain midfielder Casey Egan put them ahead with 45 seconds left — walked away from Bello Field with a critical opening day conference victory, 8-7.
"One of our big goals for the season is to always stay positive, to always believe that we can come back even if we're down," senior tri-captain Katie Lotz said. "We all have that mindset. Three goals in lacrosse really isn't that much, and once the goals started coming we got more and more pumped up."
Before the comeback, Tufts had a lackluster first half in which Hamilton dominated almost every aspect of the game. The Continentals outscored the Jumbos 4-2, outshot Tufts 10-4 and committed fewer turnovers. Junior standout Rachel Friedman, who scored 70 goals last year, also came out strong for Hamilton, notching a goal and two assists in the first frame.
But it was the ability to contain Friedman, Hamilton's best offensive weapon, that gave Tufts the opportunity to surge back in the second half. The Jumbos held the former ECAC Div. III All-Star to just one goal in the final 25 minutes, a crucial accomplishment that ultimately turned the tide of the game.
"During our scouting report, our coaches all said that she was a big threat and that she scores a lot of goals," Lotz said. "We knew that she likes to get into the crease and cut back, so we focused on that a lot in practice and we knew that we would be prepared for her."
The turning point came with the Continentals up 6-3 and in possession of the ball after winning a faceoff with 16:55 remaining. Despite multiple attempts on goal and almost five minutes of possession, Hamilton's offense could not break through. Then, following a turnover, Hyland scored and Tufts came roaring back.
"Being down three goals in lacrosse isn't that big of a deficit," senior tri-captain Lara Kozin said. "So we just knew that we couldn't let up any more goals. We just needed to regain some momentum."
Tufts scored four unanswered goals to take the lead, but Friedman responded with a tally with 2:33 remaining to tie the score at seven. Then, with 45 seconds left, senior midfielder Casey Egan scored on a free-position shot to give Tufts the win.
Last year, winning close games was not one of the Jumbos' strengths, as they lost five one-goal contests. On Saturday, they were determined to buck that trend.
"We lost so many one-goal games last year that I think we had the mindset that we absolutely refused to lose that game," Lotz said. "That got us even more excited, knowing that we were just not going to let that happen again this year."
The win was a crucial one for Tufts, which is now 1-0 both overall and in the NESCAC after downing the conference's newest squad.
"I think it was really important to get the win and beat Hamilton. It kind of set the tone for the season," Kozin said. "This was the only game we went into without knowing much about our opponent, and so it's good to know we can take on a team like that and be successful. By winning this one-goal game it definitely gives us confidence knowing that we can come out on top in these close games."
The Jumbos will have little time to savor the victory; they will travel to Conn. College for another critical conference game tomorrow. Though the Camels had only one win in the NESCAC last year, the Jumbos are not taking the game lightly and are still tweaking a few aspects of their game plan.
"We'll focus more on our offense and also ground balls and those 50-50 balls, because we got beaten to a lot of those against Hamilton," Lotz said. "We're just going to keep improving and practicing parts of our game."
