On Monday, the Tufts men’s soccer team proved their strength on a cold, rainy night in Somerville.
After the Jumbos’ title defense took a tumble following a 2–0 loss to the Wesleyan Cardinals, they’ve come back stronger with a six-game undefeated streak. The team took on the Babson Beavers, who were ranked No. 6 on the United Coaches Poll, and won in a close, 2–1 nail-biter. Since starting his tenure in 2020, head coach Kyle Dezotell’s squad has not lost a game to Babson in six straight meetings. The win also makes it two in a row over the Beavers for the Jumbos.
Initially scheduled for Sunday, the weekend’s fall storm delayed the match until the next day. Still, a steady drizzle accompanied the floodlights on Bello Field and set the stage for a physical affair between the two ranked teams.
After a 0–0 draw against the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Engineers on Friday, Monday’s game felt like a must-win. “We knew we weren’t proud of that result, and we had to just lock in and make sure that we were hungrier,” fifth-year goalkeeper Nikola Antic said in an interview with the Daily.
Tufts showed that hunger from the start, generating pressure early in the first half. The Jumbos kept the ball in the Beavers’ half, but were unable to get past goalkeeper Will Devall. Babson thrived on counterattacks that produced all three of their shots in the first period, and the match seemed even until a foul by Babson center back Huey Miller gave Tufts a penalty.
Stepping up to the spot, junior midfielder William Cornog calmly slotted the ball to the bottom-left corner, making Devall guess the wrong way. The Jumbos had opened the gates.
“I knew I was going to go to the left,” Cornog said.
Both teams exchanged chances for the rest of the period, with the Jumbos having an edge, producing eight shots to the Bobcats’ three. Tufts also created three corners but were unable to convert as Babson reigned in the air, a pattern that continued throughout the game.
In the 53rd minute, senior forward Xavier Canfin delivered a well-placed through pass to senior forward Henry Brown. Faced with a one-on-one with Devall on the right side of the box, Brown flawlessly chipped the ball into the left side of the net, extending the lead to two. The rest of his teammates joined Brown as he ran to the corner flag, basking in the glory of his fourth goal of the season.
Despite facing a two-goal deficit, Babson refused to give up. They kept on attacking and eventually broke through after a low cross from forward Alexander Yablonovsky reached defender Blake Miller, who scored his first collegiate goal for the Beavers.
The crowd and benches grew even louder following Babson’s goal. Attendance was sparse, save for a few parents and dedicated alumni, but the noise more than made up for the open space in the stands. Babson’s fans showed exceptional dedication and grew louder with each passing minute.
Babson grew increasingly hungrier for the equalizer as time passed by. They earned three corners in the final 10 minutes and outshot Tufts eight to three in the second half, with the Jumbos lacking a single shot in the final half-hour. The atmosphere grew more tense as the game approached its close, nearly every kick earning shouts from either bench.
In the final minute, the Beavers earned one last corner. In dire straits, 21 players crammed into the box for a game-deciding moment. The ball reached Babson midfielder Adam Stetson, who gave one final shot that Antic stopped. Antic held onto the ball before punting it away, and the Jumbos held on to a huge out-of-conference win against one of the strongest opponents in their schedule.
The Beavers are the highest-ranked opponent the Jumbos have faced based on the current polls, discounting the game against the previously No. 1-ranked Wesleyan, who dropped from the poll after beating the Jumbos on Sept. 9. The Jumbos currently sit fourth in the NESCAC standings and 18th in the Coaches Poll, looking to move up next week.
“We kind of got a target on our back. So we got to just approach every single game, whether it’s a top-five team like Babson or an unranked team like WPI, with the same intensity,” said Cornog after the match.
The Jumbos’ title defense continues next weekend with a match against Amherst in Amherst, Mass. on Saturday, followed by a trip to Clinton, N.Y. to play the Hamilton Continentals on Sunday.
