Sports
May 22
With the baseball and men's lacrosse teams closing out NESCAC Championships in early May, this year became one of the most successful in Tufts athletics history. The three conference titles earned are the most ever in one year for the Jumbos, and the fall, winter and spring seasons were not without their fair share of exciting highlights. The Daily takes a look back at the top 10 moments in Tufts athletics over the past year:
10. Baily passes 1,000-point mark in final game: It might have been a tough way to end the season for the women's basketball team, but there was one bright spot in the Jumbos' 75-56 loss to Kean in the NCAA Tournament: Julia Baily. The graduating senior became just the 10th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points with her three-point play with 8:16 remaining in the second half. Baily emerged as Tufts' primary inside force this season on a team without much size. Consistently facing double teams in the post, she still managed to put up 15.7 points and nine rebounds per game, along with 13 doubles-doubles. The most impressive part of Baily's feat? She topped the 1,000-point mark in basically three seasons, as she scored only 34 points in her first year as a reserve for the Jumbos.
9. Pair of Jumbos earn All-American status at indoor Nationals: Graduating senior quad-captain Jared Engelking and classmate Jesse Faller returned to Medford from Indiana with some accolades: a pair of All-American honors. Engelking took seventh in the pentathlon with 3,491 points, improving five places after being the final qualifier in the event. Faller's third-place finish in the 5K was his best-ever individual mark at NCAAs, as his time of 14:50.39 was just three seconds behind the national champion. It was Faller's third All-American honor in indoor and his sixth overall, including a trio of awards in cross country. For Engelking, it marked the second award of his track career after finishing in third place in the decathlon in the 2009 outdoor season.
8. Scott Barchard shatters single-game saves record in OT win: Rising junior Scott Barchard became the hockey team's first-ever All-American this past winter after making the most saves in the country. It didn't hurt that he had efforts like his Dec. 5 performance, when he made a school-record 63 saves in a 4-3 overtime victory over St. Anselm. The jaw-dropping performance included 58 saves before he allowed a single goal, with the first one occurring at the 14-minute mark of the third period. Barchard, who was also named a First Team All-NESCAC performer for his outstanding efforts all season, broke James Kalec's (LA '08) record of 60 stops in net from 2005. With the sophomore in net, Tufts had its first winning campaign since the 2000-01 season.
7. Baseball, softball enjoy weekend walkoffs: On April 18, both the softball team and the baseball team earned crucial NESCAC victories thanks to walkoff home runs from their star hitters. The baseball squad took down two-time defending NESCAC champion Trinity thanks to a 10th-inning bomb from rising junior third baseman Sam Sager, which gave the Jumbos a 5-4 victory. Over on Spicer Field, meanwhile, graduating senior captain Casey Sullivan smashed a walkoff in the eighth inning of game two, salvaging a split for Tufts and giving the softball team a 3-2 win.
6. Twice is nice: As one of the top pairings in the country, tri-captains graduating senior Meghan McCooey and rising senior Julia Browne doubled up on their national plaques, capturing their second straight ITA Small College National Championship for doubles in October. With a 7-5, 6-3 win over TCNJ, Browne and McCooey — ranked as the second overall seed entering the tournament — backed up the 2008 title they had won over a team from Denison. The pair made it to the finals with straight set victories over duos from Linfield in the opening round and then Redlands in the semifinals.
5. Field hockey earns first NESCAC title: Over the past few years, the field hockey team has accomplished numerous feats as it has made itself into a national powerhouse. But there was one thing missing from the Jumbos' résumé: a NESCAC title. The Jumbos took care of that hurdle in Hartford, Conn. on Nov. 8 by holding on for a 3-2 win versus Trinity. Thanks to rising senior midfielder Jess Perkins' pair of goals, the Jumbos jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. Tufts was able to weather the storm and keep the Bantams from tying things up, emerging with the victory and some revenge for the lone regular-season loss the Jumbos suffered in 2009: a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker in a battle of unbeatens at Bello Field.
4. New Cousens Gym christened with New England title: The Cousens Gym renovations were undertaken with the idea of hosting NCAAs in mind. And when the volleyball team got the chance to do that, it did not disappoint. After spending much of the season as the top team in New England, the Jumbos faltered in the NESCAC championships, losing to Williams in straight sets. But Tufts was dominant in its three matches at Regionals, dispatching Maine Maritime and Wellesley with ease to set up a rematch with the rival Ephs. Led by NCAA Regional MVP rising senior Dawson Joyce-Mendive and her team-leading 14 kills, the Jumbos earned a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a 3-0 win. Not a bad way to christen their new digs.
3. Jon Pierce tips in game-winner on Seniors Day: No player has meant more to its team in the last four years than graduating senior Jon Pierce has to the men's basketball squad. So it was fitting that Tufts' all-time leading scorer played hero in his final game at Cousens Gym. In a tough season for the Jumbos, Pierce provided some theatrics, scoring the game-winning bucket with 34 seconds remaining to give Tufts a 69-68 win. Pierce, who had 22 points on the day, also had a key block to help the Jumbos hold on for their first victory over the Lord Jeffs since the 2003-04 season.
2. Overtime field goal gives football Homecoming win: There aren't a whole lot of highlights when you finish the season 2-6. But when the whole school is watching you and you come through not once, but twice, there is no other way to describe it. Rising junior Adam Auerbach booted a 37-yard field goal to send the Homecoming Day game into overtime and then sent Bowdoin packing with a 35-yarder to earn the win. It was the first game-winning field goal for Tufts in 12 years, and gave the Jumbos their first overtime victory since October of 2003.
1. Celebration on College Ave.: In the span of a few hours just a few feet from each other, both the men's lacrosse team and the baseball team captured NESCAC titles, setting off a raucous celebration on Bello Field and Huskins Field on May 9. The baseball team earned its first championship since 2002 and its second-ever in program history with a 6-1 victory over Bowdoin. Meanwhile, the lacrosse squad captured its first-ever NESCAC title after scoring six unanswered goals in a 13-12 win over Middlebury. It was the perfect end to conference play for both squads, each of which enjoyed the best seasons in program history this year and set new marks for wins.
