On Tuesday, the seniors on the women's lacrosse team refused to let their senior day end in defeat. On their final game on Bello Field, senior captain attacker Gabby Horner and her classmate, midfielder Eliza Halmo, combined for six second-half and overtime goals to come back from a three goal deficit to beat Bates, 11-9, in overtime.
The most impressive victory of the season for the Jumbos was also their most fitting, as it came in a game that marked the final home appearance in the athletic careers of four Tufts seniors.
Entering the contest, Tufts and Bates were tied in the NESCAC standings, but Tufts seemed outmatched early on.
The Jumbos began the game in a 3-0 hole. In a mere 47 seconds, Bates sophomore midfielder Emma Noto scored twice and senior attacker Blair Shrewsbury netted the other goal. Head coach Courtney Farrell immediately called a timeout. After the break, the team's defense returned to the field with a much more aggressive mindset, and its stingy zone defense remained dominant for the rest of the game.
Sophomore midfielder Brigid Bowser opened up the scoring for Tufts, but Bates senior attacker Bridget Meedzan immediately retaliated to make the score 4-1 after five and a half minutes of play.
At this point, the weather became a major factor, with heavy wind gusts and rain. Yet despite the harsh conditions, Tufts showed no signs of sloppy play.
"We adapt," Halmo said. "That's what Tufts women's lacrosse does. We were out there early this semester playing in blizzard conditions, so we know how to take on any type of weather. We don't let it affect us, and we feel comfortable no matter what."
Despite being down early, the Jumbos rallied back to within one, after Horner and sophomore attacker Caroline Ross each found the back of the net. Just 34 seconds after the Ross goal, Bates freshman midfielder Kaileigh Maguire scored her only goal of the game, and senior captain Wally Pierce added one of her own, just before the 15-minute mark, to give the Bobcats a 6-3 lead.
The fast-paced game continued as Bowser ran down the middle of the field on a breakaway and passed the ball to Ross, who then found Bowser in front of the net for her second goal of the day. Junior midfielder Lindsey Walker continued the offensive barrage with a goal just a minute and a half later.
The final 13 minutes of the half were scoreless, and the Bobcats led 6-5 at the break.
Bates sophomore goalie Hannah Jeffrey played well for the first part of the second half. She finished the game with seven saves, and her four early saves in the second half, along with her ability to halt Ross and junior attacker Kali DiGate on their free position shots, kept Bates in the lead until the final few minutes of regulation.
After Pierce added her second goal for the Bobcats, the Tufts seniors began to steal the show. Halmo scored her first goal with just over 23 minutes to play in the half after receiving a fantastic pass from DiGate. After two quick Bates goals, Halmo responded with her second and third goals of the game, both off of free position shots, to put her team within one.
The Bobcats led 9-8 with seven minutes to play, but the Jumbos were on the offensive. After several crisp passes, the ball wound up in Horner's stick, and she maneuvered past the Bobcats defense to tie the game at nine. Bates had multiple chances to retake the lead in regulation, but Tufts' staunch defense sent the game into overtime.
"All year we practiced how to be composed," Horner said. "The last eight minutes of every practice is devoted to going into different situations we may face. We have practiced overtime multiple times, so we knew what to do, and the fact that we executed it perfectly is a testament to a great coaching staff, so it [was] pretty exciting."
After Halmo's star performance in the second half, Horner was able to take over after regulation ended. She began by scoring on a free position shot, angling it past the once-formidable Jeffrey, and later scored an insurance goal as the clock wound down, sealing the 11-9 victory.
"I feel very accomplished," Horner said. "Like we have been saying all year, it is kind of a new chapter in Tufts lacrosse. We have been building off previous seasons, but also embracing what our new coaches have to offer. Our perseverance after being down by three in the first minute was great. A lot of teams would have just hung their heads and convinced themselves it wasn't their day, but not us."
While Halmo and Horner scored all the key goals, senior defender Kelley Cohen also exhibited impressive play throughout the game. Cohen and junior defender Emily Wright anchored Tufts to its greatest defensive stretch of the season. Down three with 15 minutes to play, the Jumbos' defense was able to prevent any goals from being scored in the latter part of the second half and also kept Bates off the board in overtime.
"They definitely got us on their fast breaks and draw controls early on, but once we settled down, we were able to get into our backer defense, maintain our composure, and, most importantly, stop them," Halmo said. "That stop right at the end of regulation was awesome. They had two minutes, and we didn't let them go to goal."
The win moved Tufts to 4-4 in the NESCAC, which gives the team more conference wins than it had last year. For Horner, Halmo, Cohen and fellow senior Kate Applegate, who have been focusing on making this year their best lacrosse season yet, the win is only another step in cementing their legacies at Tufts.
