Coming off of its thrilling overtime win over Bates last Tuesday, the No. 17 women's lacrosse team appeared to have a clear road to a second-straight victory when it took on Wesleyan on Saturday. However, the Cardinals, seeking their first conference win of the season, almost pulled off a major upset on Saturday, thwarted only by a late surge from the Jumbos. The final push at the end of the second half gave Tufts a 7-5 win, and moved its NESCAC record to 5-4 and overall record to 9-5.
While Wesleyan entered the game winless in the NESCAC, Tufts knew that its opponent would be no pushover. Going into the game, Wesleyan had lost its eight NESCAC games by an average of 4.125 goals per game, with three games decided by three goals or less. Furthermore, its defense had been impressive all season, ranking third in the NESCAC.
From the start of the game, the Cardinals showed they were used to the top-20 competition, while the Jumbos struggled to find any type of rhythm.
"We knew they were pretty good," sophomore attacker Caroline Ross said. "Their record doesn't show it, so we didn't want to get overly confident. I think we just came out flat, without a lot of energy. We usually feed off high energy, and that [energy] just wasn't there."
Senior co-captain attacker Gabby Horner scored the first goal of the game seven minutes into the first half. After Horner's goal, both teams struggled to get much offense going, with Tufts holding a 1-0 lead for most of the first half.
Wesleyan would get on the board with less than seven minutes to play in the half when freshman midfielder Meredith Smith slipped a shot past junior goalie Rachel Gallimore. On the next possession, Horner put the Jumbos up 2-1 on her second goal of the day and team-leading 31st on the year.
Not to be outdone, the Cardinals responded, as sophomore midfielder Martha Harding connected on a feed from freshman attacker Becca Phillips to tie the game up at 2-2 heading into halftime.
Ross would once again give the Jumbos a lead early in the second half, but a 3-0 run by the Cardinals gave them a 5-3 advantage with 23 minutes to play.
While its offense struggled to get much past Wesleyan sophomore goalie Nina Labovich, who had eight saves in the second half, Tufts' defense was able to keep them in the game. Senior Emily Wright helped Tufts win possession with a game-high five groundballs and three forced turnovers. Sophomore midfielder Brigid Bowser, known for her playmaking ability, added on four groundballs and four forced turnovers. Both players were integral in holding Wesleyan to just 10 for 22 on clear attempts.
Despite being down by two and seeing very little productive offense, the Jumbos did not panic. Head coach Courtney Farrell, seeing her team possibly pigeonhole themselves into the NESCAC's eighth seed, kept the team calm.
"[Farrell] came in and has revamped the program," junior attacker Kali DiGate said. "She's a huge part of why we have done so well this season, and she has allowed us all to believe that we could be this good. She wants to win as bad as we do and cares about us the way we all do for each other."
With less than 18 minutes left in the game, the Jumbos started to make their run. DiGate, as she has done all year, made a cut toward the net and scored off a pass from Ross. Five minutes later, Bowser lost her defender with a spin move and connected to tie the game up at 5-5.
Despite the quick comeback, the Jumbos lost much of their momentum as Ross, DiGate and Bowser were all hit with yellow cards in a span of 30 seconds. However, the defense and Gallimore were able to kill off Wesleyan's seven-on-four advantage.
With seven minutes to go, Ross, moving toward the net off a restart, sent a high, fast shot past Labovich to give the Jumbos the lead. Shortly after, DiGate would once again score off a cut, with senior co-captain Kate Applegate notching the assist.
The 4-0 run by the Jumbos exemplified the team's well-balanced offense. While Tufts does not have a top-five scorer in the conference, the team does have a conference-high four players in the top-20.
"The great thing about our offense is that we have a lot of assisting goals," DiGate said. "What's great about [my teammates] is that they can beat their defenders and take it themselves, which opens up lanes for everyone else."
Up 7-5, the Jumbos still needed to stop a response by the Cardinals. Smith -- who had two goals in the game -- came inches away from her third with a shot that hit the crossbar in the final couple minutes of the game. Harding also had a good opportunity to put the Cardinals within one, but an impressive save by Gallimore and the subsequent clear sealed the victory for the Jumbos.
Tufts' regular season finale against No. 14 Bowdoin on Wednesday will clear up what is now a murky playoff picture. If Tufts, No. 13 Colby and No. 9 Williams all win, Tufts will have a chance at the fourth seed -- and home field in the opening round -- in the conference playoffs. A loss could possibly send the Jumbos all the way to the seventh seed and a meeting with either No. 3 Amherst or No. 6 Trinity. Regardless of the other games, a win would guarantee Tufts the fifth-seed at worse and allow the team to avoid facing one of the conference's top-10 nationally ranked teams in the first round.
"It's definitely a must-win for us," Ross said of the team's upcoming game against Bowdoin. "Whoever we play [in the playoffs] will be good, but winning this game would be huge for us and a real confidence-builder."
