So we recently had this little event in the sports world called Opening Weekend. I was treated to the sight of a Jon Garland (White Sox-style) jersey and Barry Zito (Giants) jersey for three days straight and couldn't have been happier. Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford were written on the same lineup card, and all was right in the world.
Neither stormy conditions nor a jam-packed schedule could stop the No. 12 coed sailing team from building upon its recent success: The Jumbos rolled to three top-five finishes this past weekend, including a first-place at the Mystic Lake Team Race Invitational.
The success of the Tufts University Rugby Football Club (TURFC) this fall did not go unnoticed. The season, highlighted by a trip to the semifinals of the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU), earned the Jumbos a top-10 national ranking.
Eight Jumbos found the back of the net yesterday as the No. 12 women's lacrosse team trampled non-league opponent Babson, 15-4.
After disappointing third-place finishes at the first two shows of the spring season, the equestrian team's dream of winning Zone 1, Region 4 was in doubt. Lackluster performances at the March 5 show in Medway, Mass., hosted by Wellesley College, and the March 13 event in Pembroke, Mass., hosted by Mount Ida College, meant that the 24-rider coed club squad's lead in the region standings had dissolved, and perennial power Stonehill College, a varsity team, had wrested back the top spot.
The men's lacrosse team shined in its first night game at Bello Field this season, holding off a second-half surge from Bates to beat the Bobcats 18-9. Junior attackman Sean Kirwan and senior quad-captain attackman Ryan Molloy led the Jumbos with four goals apiece, and freshman Patton Watkins had 16 saves in his second collegiate start.
During an on−court interview after the final buzzer sounded in his team's dramatic Game 6 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals, Boston Celtics power forward Kevin Garnett screamed to the world that "Anything is possible!"
A dominant weekend at the plate earned freshman catcher Jo Clair NESCAC Player of the Week honors for the first time in her young career. Clair, who entered the team's three−game set against Bates this weekend with six home runs, showed no signs of slowing down, going 7−for−8 with three home runs and eight RBIs. Her slugging percentage for the weekend was a gargantuan 2.125 as she helped her team to a three−game sweep of the Bobcats.
With its pitching staff running thin after 16 innings of work, the winning run at second base, and the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the baseball team could not have been happier to see senior outfielder Chase Rose step to the plate with a chance to put the finishing touch on a sweep of the Bates Bobcats.
I'm not quite sure there is any possible method of counteracting this statement, but Brad Stevens is the best working coach in college basketball today. That much became certain even far before the Bulldogs once again came up short of making history. Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and John Calipari need to move over, because the 34−year−old Golden Coach with the boyish looks and the trendy glasses has proven himself over the past two seasons to be better than the rest.
In a season defined by up−and−down play, the softball team has been in search of a spark. Coming off a gut−wrenching loss to Springfield College in their home opener on Wednesday, followed by a narrow victory over Williams on Thursday, the team knew it had a lot to prove heading into this past weekend's three−game series against Bates College, one of the perennially weaker sides in the NESCAC East.
Coming off of a successful spring break trip to Florida that included an impressive win over No. 3 University of Chicago, the No. 5 Jumbos added three more strong victories this weekend. Tufts beat Colby on Saturday and No. 18 The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and No. 30 Brandeis on Sunday.
The center of campus turned into a sea of blurred spandex yesterday as the Tufts Campus Criterium, the third and final event of the Boston Beanpot 2.0, rolled into town. Fifteen Tufts riders and over a hundred cyclists competed as students got a rare chance to see the sport up close. For more, including an exclusive video of the event, check out The Score at blogs.tuftsdaily.com/thescore.
The women's track and field team hosted and won the Snowflake Classic on Saturday at Dussault Track on the strength of three individual wins in field events.
The men's track and field team kicked off its season with the Snowflake Classic, hosted by the Jumbos at the Dussault Track this Saturday. Tufts won its first full-squad meet of the season, but the performance of the weekend came the night before at the Sam Howell Invitational hosted by Princeton University.
Coming into Saturday's game against No. 16 Wesleyan (6-2, 2-2 NESCAC), there was much speculation in the lacrosse community that this could be the game in which No. 1 Tufts (7-0, 4-0 NESCAC) would finally fall. Instead, the Jumbos proved once again that they are deserving of staying at the top of the rankings.
The women's lacrosse team had what would favorably be described as an up-and-down start to the season — after a 14-13 opening day win against Amherst, the squad lost its next two games, including a bitter 11-10 defeat by the Colby Mules. But the Jumbos seem to have forgotten their early struggles and have rattled off four straight wins, including Saturday's 19-9 blowout victory against Wesleyan.
The Williams Ephs will come to town today in a matchup of last season's regular season NESCAC leaders. The Jumbos owned the NESCAC East with a 10-2 record, while the Ephs won the West at 9-3. Both teams are off to strong starts this season: Williams is sitting at 8-4, while Tufts is the winner of seven of its last 11 games.
After the women's lacrosse team downed defending NESCAC champions Williams 14-9 on Saturday, the squad knew that yesterday's game at Bates would be critical: They would either continue to build on their momentum or slump back to a .500 conference record.
