San Antonio Spurs Hall of Famer David Robinson once remarked, “It’s the playoffs. There’s no room for okay.”
The Tufts men’s soccer team heard that advice and took it to heart. After romping to a NESCAC title and sweeping the NCAA first and second rounds, they toppled Messiah and Bowdoin to advance to the NCAA semifinals for the first time since winning the 2019 national championship.
“Our mindset was to enjoy the moment and continue chasing another trophy. We really wanted to embrace the opportunity to play at home and make a final four, something we hadn’t accomplished in our careers until now,” senior midfielder Daniel Yanez wrote in a message to the Daily.
Both games were held at Bello Field, giving the Jumbos a home-field advantage. The third-round contest pitted the Jumbos against the Falcons, the only team with more NCAA titles — 11 — than the Jumbos. Just four minutes into the matchup, the Falcons pounced on and converted an opportunity to take the lead. After a foul committed by junior defender Ethan Jett, the ball found Messiah midfielder David Pagett. Pagett crossed the ball into the box, where it found forward Kyle Spodnik, who tapped it in to give the Falcons the lead.
“While it was a tough wake-up call to concede an early goal, we had proved to ourselves earlier in the season that we can come from behind to win games. We had to keep pushing, but we knew goals were coming,” Yanez reflected.
True to his word, the Jumbos registered three shots over the next 15 minutes, making clear that instead of sitting back, they were knocking on the door of a goal. Around minute 20, their efforts were rewarded. Senior defender Mateo Bargagna found junior forward Henry Brown at the back post, who knotted the game at one with his seventh goal of the season.
Determined to get another goal on the scoreboard before the half, the Jumbos continued to press forward. Around the 40-minute mark, senior forward Mason Shultz dribbled toward the end line and whizzed a ball to senior forward Henry Perkins at the near post. Perkins shuffled the ball to junior forward Xavier Canfin, who slotted home unmarked to give the Jumbos a 2–1 advantage at the midway point.
Before the Falcons could catch their breath after retaking the field, the Jumbos found another goal. After the Falcons failed to clear the ball, Canfin found the ball fortuitously at his feet once again. He fired a shot past Messiah goalkeeper Kessler Forrest, whose view was obstructed, to double Tufts’ lead.
The Jumbo faithful could not believe their luck when, just six minutes later, the Jumbos found the back of the net once again. After Forrest saved junior midfielder Ben Brown’s header, junior midfielder Bijan Akhtarzandi-Das poked the ball in to bring the Jumbos’ lead to 4–1.
From there, Messiah was held quiet for the rest of the game. It only forced senior goalkeeper Nikola Antic to make one save before the final whistle punctuated the 4–1 drubbing. What had started as a panic scenario for the Jumbos ended with them cruising to their first NCAA Elite Eight appearance since 2021.
The quarterfinals saw the Jumbos reunited with a familiar opponent, the Bowdoin Polar Bears, whom they had drawn 0–0 in the regular season finale on Oct. 28.
Looking to right the wrongs of their slow start against Messiah, the Jumbos found their way onto the scoresheet early. Just over 15 minutes into the tie, Canfin won a corner kick in the Bowdoin zone. Yanez took the set piece, sending the ball to the back post. Polar Bear goalkeeper Alex Ainsworth parried the ball into the kerfuffle in front of him after making a save on a shot that came off one of his own teammates. However, Ben Brown capitalized on the loose ball and poked it in, giving the Jumbos the lead.
The Jumbos nearly doubled their lead 21 minutes in, when sophomore midfielder Ellis Denby had his shot saved by Ainsworth. Ainsworth’s save galvanized the Polar Bears, who began to take control of the game afterwards, emphasized by a yellow card shown to Jumbo first-year defender Alex Johnson at the 30-minute mark. The Polar Bears eventually broke through in the closing minutes of the half, when forward Felipe Rueda Duran scored off an assist from midfielder Paul Surkov.
The second half, which saw both teams determined to gain an advantage, was a tense affair. Henry Brown picked up a yellow card just two minutes into the period, while Antic was called into action to preserve the deadlock after the 49-minute mark. After the 55th minute, the Jumbos found themselves on the front foot, as they registered three shots before their efforts paid off following the 72nd minute.
Henry Brown was fouled down the right sideline, setting up a free kick for the Jumbos. Shultz whipped the set piece into the box, where the ball met the foot of Johnson, who rocketed it into the corner for the go-ahead goal.
“I am incredibly proud of how a [first-year] can step up in a huge moment like that. We were chasing the second goal, and when we finally got one, we were able to hold on for the rest of the game,” Yanez wrote.
Needing to close out the win, the Jumbos parked the bus. Though the Polar Bears picked up three corner kicks and forced Antic to make another save, the Jumbos were able to weather the storm, closing out the 2–1 win and punching their tickets to the Final Four.
“Everyone was incredibly motivated to keep our season going. … That was the overarching mentality - to empty the tanks and give everything we had,” Yanez said.
Tufts will travel to Salem, Va. to take on No. 4 ranked St. Olaf College in the semifinals on Dec. 5. Until then, the Jumbos will give thanks for their incredible season during the holiday and then resume training.
“St Olaf will be a challenging opponent, and we expect it to be a great game. We are incredibly excited for the opportunity!” Yanez wrote.
Whether the Jumbos progress further or not, they have certainly proved that they’ve left no room in the playoffs for ‘okay.’ They’ve made it farther than any of their predecessors did during the 2020s, and that is a Jumbo statement.
