Last season, Tufts struggled to defeat the Endicott Gulls, eking out a 12-11 win in what was expected to be a comfortable non-conference victory. This time, however, the Jumbos performed more in line with expectations, cruising to a 15-10 win over the Gulls to improve their road record to 5-0 on the season. With the victory, Tufts matches its win total from a year ago.
Against Endicott, Tufts was boosted by a well-distributed offensive attack. Five players scored two or more goals, and Tufts was able to avoid the type of inconsistent first half that has been the team's Achilles' heel all season.
In fact, the Jumbos managed to score 10 goals in the opening 30 minutes against Endicott senior goalkeeper Ryan Socolow. Tufts junior attacker Kali DiGate scored the first goal just 44 seconds into the game, and after an Endicott reply, junior midfielder Lindsey Walker answered back with two goals in a 53-second span.
Walker helped carry the Jumbos' offense, along with DiGate and sophomore attacker Caroline Ross, as the three combined for six goals and three assists in the first half.
"All year the team looks to help everyone else out," Ross said. "We try to play as a unit. Our goal is not to drive one-on-one, but rather to pass the ball around and take open shots."
Ross is the team's second leading scorer on the season, but against Endicott she was also the primary facilitator, finishing with three assists along with her three goals.
Tufts' defense halted the Endicott attack for ten straight minutes, until Endicott junior attacker Katie Tierney drove by several Tufts defenders and fired a shot into the back of the net. Following Tierney's goal, the Jumbos blanked the Gulls for seven more minute while DiGate and Ross each added a goal to push the score to 5-2.
The Jumbos' ability to shut down the Gulls for the first 20 minutes was a testament to head coach Courtney Farrell's newly implemented defensive schemes. Farrell employed a mixture of zone and man-to-man defenses to keep the Endicott attack off-balance throughout the first half. Senior defender Kelley Cohen led the way, with four ground balls and three turnovers forced.
"Endicott is a very fast team, and we made it a priority to commit as few fouls as possible," Cohen said. "Before the game, we discussed the need to use our feet instead of our sticks, and our energy level was high right from the first draw."
After back-to-back Endicott goals, Tufts scored five goals in the final seven minutes of the half. Sophomore midfielder Brigid Bowser scored her two goals during this span, and DiGate added her third of the half in the final minute to give the Jumbos a 10-5 lead at the break.
"Offensively, we really tried to push the fast break and to take as many quality shots as possible," Cohen said. "Our [offensive players] know to be ready to shoot whenever [they] are confident."
Tufts finished the first half with fewer fouls and turnovers, along with a 19-8 lead in shots taken. Out of the break, the Jumbos were able to increase their lead to six, as Ross opened the second half with her second goal of the game.
The Gulls would not go down without a fight, however. Freshman attacker Emily Whitney, Endicott's leading scorer, was excellent, and kept her team within striking distance with her 31st and 32nd goals of the season.
Midway through the second half, the Jumbos were clinging to an 11-7 lead, but once again, the offense became hot at the right moment, stringing together four unanswered goals in a five-and-a-half-minute span.
Junior midfielder Ellie Clayman added two more goals for the Gulls at the end of the game, but it was not enough to overcome the Jumbos' high-powered offense. With the win, Tufts is now 7-4 with just four conference games remaining this season.
Along with their undefeated road record, the Jumbos also have not lost consecutive games all year.
"We have become a very resilient team after losses," Ross said. "If we did not play our best, we are great at knowing what needs to change before the next game."
The one factor that Ross could not explain is why the team has been so much more successful away from their home field.
"A lot of good teams have come to Bello [Field], so that could be it," Ross said of the team's home-away splits. "At this point it could really be anything -- I don't know, maybe even the bus ride, which gets us hyped up."
In Tufts' final three games, the squad will face teams below them in the NESCAC standings. But before those must-win matches, the team will put its undefeated road record on the line this weekend as it travels to No. 3 Amherst to face the undefeated, conference-leading Lord Jeffs.
