After picking up a non?conference victory against Endicott College at Bello Field last week, Tufts fell to No. 1 Trinity College 13?4 in a lopsided affair. The Jumbos escaped with a 12?11 win over the Gulls, holding off the comeback to capture their fourth win of the season. The success was short?lived, however, as the Jumbos could not sustain the same performance for the Saturday showdown with the Bantams.
Though the final score of the Endicott contest did not show it, the Jumbos controlled the game's tempo for much of the game. The Jumbos started with great control and possession, taking the lead over the Gulls 6?2 by the 14:33 mark after a five?goal run.
Tufts was helped by impressive offensive showings from sophomore midfielder Lindsey Walker, freshman attacker Caroline Ross and junior midfielder Kelley Cohen, who all netted two goals apiece, but the breakout performer for the Jumbos was senior co?captain attacker Kerry Eaton, who scored four goals and assisted on two.
"I think when we came out, we came out strong and focused," Eaton said. "That's what helped us get a lead at the beginning. That gave us momentum for first half of the game."
By halftime, however, Endicott had crawled back within two, down 8?6 going into the intermission. Ross opened the second with a score, but the teams would go back and forth before Endicott closed in after Eaton's fourth goal at the 5:53 mark. With 2:20 remaining, the Jumbos' lead was just one, but Tufts' freshman midfielder Brigid Bowser was able to control a decisive draw that allowed the Jumbos to drain the clock and secure the win.
"In the second half, I think we relaxed a little," junior midfielder Kate Applegate said. "We let them creep back, but we still got the victory."
The Jumbos would not be lucky enough to escape with a victory against Trinity, however, as the Bantams dispatched Tufts to improve to 7?0 overall and keep their spotless NESCAC mark at 4?0.
The end result was never in question - Trinity held the Jumbos scoreless in the first half and took an 8?0 at halftime. The Bantams extended the lead to 10?0 before Eaton finally netted a goal 6:40 into the second half.
"During the Trinity game, we were just making a lot of mistakes," Eaton said. "We weren't really focusing on the basics. Then we allowed them to get goals, which gave them a confidence boost, and drained us. It was not our best showing."
The Jumbos' 34 turnovers prevented any offensive momentum and played into the Bantams' attack. And when they did maintain possession, the Tufts offense struggled, only managing 10 shots compared to 28 from Trinity.
Eaton led the Jumbos with two goals and an assist, while Applegate scooped a game?high six groundballs. While senior goaltender Tess Shapanka made 12 saves in the net for the Jumbos, it did not stop three Trinity players from having multi?goal games - including four from senior tri?captain midfielder Megan Leonhard.
"We knew what they were going to do, what they were going to come out with on defense," Applegate said. "We just kept turning the ball over. We had an absurd amount of turnovers. And our defense would work really hard to get the ball to the offense, but Trinity would work hard to cause turnovers and throw us off offensively."
The Jumbos now have a full week off to prepare for their next matchup with Williams College on Saturday. Though it will be important to reflect on and fix problems that arose during the Trinity game, Tufts must focus on moving forward and earning points in the NESCAC standings as it sits at 1?3 in the conference at ninth place.
"I think the focus will be just to learn from the Trinity game, not to dwell on it," Eaton said. "It's in the past, we can't change it. We must regroup and focus on the basics to get the team morale and confidence back up going into next weekend."
