Club soccer earns regional tournament bid, contends for return to nationals

With its win against Babson on Saturday, men’s club soccer capped off yet another stellar regular season and cemented its prime position heading into this year’s regional tournament. Finishing with a record of 9-1, the Tufts University Football Club (TUFC) fell only once on Sept. 17 to Boston College.

Under the leadership of senior tri-captains David Heim and Jeremy Goldsmith and sophomore tri-captain Henry Stevens, TUFC finished second to Boston College in the Boston South division of the National Intramural-Recreational College Sports Association (NIRSA). Though TUFC often plays in the shadow of the varsity team at Tufts, it is making plenty of noise in NIRSA. Among all of Region I, which is comprised of the mid-Atlantic and New England, TUFC ranks fourth in power rankings behind only Rochester Institute of Technology, Penn. State and the University of Connecticut's B team. TUFC’s position as number four in the region qualifies the team for a bid to the regional tournament at Kirkwood Soccer Complex in New Castle, Del. on Oct. 29-30. 

“This would be the third time in the past four seasons that TUFC has gone to regionals, and we’re hoping for a repeat of 2014, when we qualified for the national tournament in Memphis," Heim said. "All that, I think, goes to show that our club program has become one of the best in the northeast, and we certainly have high expectations going into the regional tournament.”

From its founding in 2006 up through 2011, TUFC struggled to gain a foothold in the league, posting a string of losing records. Since the 2012 season, however, TUFC has finished top three in its division each year. This season, TUFC took down local rivals Harvard, Northeastern and Boston University.

Much of its success can be attributed to a surging player pool, with upwards of 60 students now attending tryouts annually, with numbers breaking 100 in some years. Once a no-cut team, the increasingly intense level of play has slashed the tryout acceptance rate down to roughly 10 percent. Nearly all played high-level club soccer throughout high school.

“The team seems to get better every year, and certainly the quality of our freshman class continues to improve,” Heim said.

The team featured an especially promising first-year class this season; the captains invited eight to join the team despite planning for only four. Among this year’s newcomers are first-year Jeremy Nartey and Dillon Knight. Nartey, an aspiring varsity walk-on, exploded onto the club scene as a standout defender who has played significant minutes and maintained a critical role in the rotation thus far.

“Going into the season, honestly I didn't know what to expect and I didn't know how intense the competition of the club atmosphere would be, but now that I'm in the thick of it, it's really changed my mind,” Nartey said.

Knight, TUFC’s starting goalkeeper, has also proved himself to be a key contributor to the team’s successes. Due in large part to his efforts and the strong core of defenders around him, TUFC allowed just three goals over all 10 regular season games, a number that they hope to keep just as low against the higher level of competition in Delaware.

“Both Jeremy Nartey and Dillon Knight have locked down our back line since day one of the season, needing barely any transition time," Stevens said. "Dillon makes an insane save every game, and Jeremy wins literally every header every game."

If TUFC co-wins regionals or is the next-highest ranked team after the tournament, it earns an automatic invitation to the National Championships tournament. There are also six at-large bids if TUFC fails to secure one of the automatic three. The National Championships will occur in Foley, Ala. from Nov. 17-19.Including 96 teams and over 2,000 players, staff and officials, the tournament in Alabama would be an opportunity for the team to compete against some of the best non-varsity soccer players the nation has to offer. Unlike varsity, TUFC has the opportunity to play NCAA Div. I schools that boast much larger student populations and therefore a greater pool of athletes to select from.

As a club team, TUFC relies on its captains to coordinate with Tufts Athletics and the NIRSA league as well as schedule practices and help guide the younger players. Stevens, the team's sole sophomore captain this year, hopes to pick up where Heim and Goldsmith will leave off after this year.

“It's more responsibility being a captain, but I love every bit of it. I'm extremely proud of all of the freshmen and am excited to see where they can bring the club in three years. They all have the talent to compete with any team in our league,” Stevens said.

Through the players' responses, it's clear that the captains’ hard work has paid off both on and off the field. Nartey particularly appreciates their efforts.

“The upperclassmen have made my freshman transition as well as all the others on the team a smooth one, and I'm grateful to have met these guys," Nartey said. "From basic tips to anything school related, they've made me feel way more at home here at Tufts.”

Only time will tell if the team can extend its regular season success into regionals, but TUFC is certainly riding high, and Heim is taking it all in one last time.

“In the end, it is a club program, so the goals and aspirations are really dictated by us, the players," Heim said. "The success that the team has had and continues to have is a great testament to the commitment, both to the team and to the game, of all those involved.”