Coming off a tremendous win against the former No. 1, nationally ranked Middlebury College, the Tufts field hockey team rode that momentum into an offensively dominant win against Roger Williams on Sunday. The Jumbos defeated the Hawks 5–1 Sunday evening at home, remaining undefeated on Ounjian Field so far this season.
Following an exciting opening week, the NHL season is now in full swing and the season is starting to develop a normal flow.Just because the season started does not mean that teams stop making transactions. In what appears to be a great deal for both sides, the New York Rangers and forward Alexis Lafreniere agreed to terms on a seven-year contract worth $52.15 million. After a spectacular showing last season, especially in the playoffs, Lafreniere rightfully earned his payday and will be a key piece of the Rangers core group for years to come.
Tufts volleyball kicked off a busy weekend competing in the New England Challenge with a scrappy 3-sets-to-1 win against Springfield College in the Cousens Gymnasium. The team loaded up its momentum and headed to Cambridge for the second day of contests. They started with a commanding 3–0 victory over Babson College before falling 3–1 to MIT in the event’s final match. Contributions from throughout the lineup and a fearless approach allowed the Jumbos to find success in important regional matchups ahead of the upcoming NESCAC tournament. A standout performance by sophomore middle blocker Akpevwe Akpoigbe earned her All-Tournament Team honors to top off the weekend.
The NBA recently announced an investigation into the Philadelphia 76ers for load-managing superstar center Joel Embiid, who revealed last week his intention to “never play back-to-back [games] for the rest of my career.” Load management is the practice of resting players for certain games in order to decrease stress on their bodies and keep them from injury.
This Saturday, Tufts field hockey took down the then No. 1 Middlebury College, putting an end to Middlebury’s historic 43-game winning streak with an exceptional 2–1 victory on Ounjian Field.
If you’re among the loyal readers of this column (all three or four of you, by my estimate), you might be wondering why a series titled “The Full Court Press” has yet to cover any basketball. As you sat and read about Deshaun Watson or the Padres, you surely thought to yourself, “Does this idiot even know what a full court press is? He knows that’s a basketball term, right?”
Tufts football made sure to avoid a repeat of their loss to Hamilton College last year at their Saturday game. The Jumbos jumped out to a 17–6 lead in the first half and held on for a 20–13 win over their NESCAC rival.
It was the game that everyone had circled on the calendar — a rematch of the NESCAC semifinal, where the Tufts Jumbos ended the Middlebury Panthers’ unbeaten streak in 2023. Both teams came in undefeated, and remain the only two without losses in the 10-team league. The Jumbos came into Saturday knowing that a win would clinch the NESCAC regular season title, with the Panthers needing at least a draw to keep their hopes of hosting a second consecutive NESCAC tournament.
With 37 teams to compete against, women’s cross-country had stiff competition at the Connecticut College Invitational this Saturday. Still, the Jumbos held their own, placing seventh out of 37 teams in the Blue race, where the teams’ top runners participated. This was an incredibly successful race for the Jumbos, and many of the teams’ top seven runners finished with new personal best times. The Jumbos finished sixth out of 37 teams in the White race. MIT won the Blue race, and Williams won the White race. Tufts scored 217 points in the Blue race and 124 points in the White race.
The 2024–25 NHL season is off to an exciting start. From teams off to surprising starts, teams off to disappointing starts and everything in between, these first few days of the season are just the beginning of all the intriguing NHL action to come.
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the women’s soccer team(10–2–1) stepped onto Bello field to face No. 12 Middlebury (7–1–5) on Senior Day in their second-to-last NESCAC game of the season. After a pre-game recognition for theirfour seniors, the whistle blew and the Jumbos were off with high energy.
As the season inches closer to the long-awaited NESCAC tournament, volleyball is eager to take home this year’s trophy.Although they lost to Colby and Bowdoin over this past weekend, their success at the beginning of the season led to aplayoff clinch on Friday. The top eight teams make the tournament, and the Jumbos currently sit at the fourth spot with a 6–3 conference record.
Wrestlers begin a sumo match with their fists on the floor. Then, the mountains collide. Both men throw absolute death at each other — grabs and strikes, hands latched on to the other’s belt. Suddenly, one of the Goliaths has an advantage. The fighters, known as rikishi, bully one another around the ring until a throwdown ends the match. It’s been six seconds and the Japanese crowd is going wild. However, this joy is not felt across the Pacific. Here in the United States, they are not seen as athletes.
Five individuals from the men’s tennis team took the flight down to Georgia to compete at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Cup this past weekend. Senior Vuk Vuksanovic qualified by winning an ITA Regional singles title at the New England Regional Championships hosted by Tufts. Doubles pair junior Javier Gonzalez and first-year Stavros Mastrogamvrakis, as well as doubles pair juniors Sacha Maes and Alex Ganchev, both qualified by reaching the ITA New England Regional doubles finals.
A collective wave of groans echoed throughout the Stadio Artemio Franchi as the referee pointed to the spot. A quick passing combination had released Christian Pulisic into space as he darted towards goal. Despite losing his balance, the American was able to swiftly direct the ball towards Tijjani Reijnders before he was fouled by Luca Ranieri — penalty to A.C Milan. Fiorentina’s early graft for a 1–0 lead now seemed pointless as Theo Hernandez steadied himself at the spot.
Paul Juda won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics with the U.S. men’s gymnastics team this past summer, alongside his teammates Stephen Nedoroscik, Frederick Richard, Brody Malone and Asher Hong. Their efforts ended a 16-year medal drought for the American men’s team. Juda, a native of Deerfield, Ill., also competes for the University of Michigan Wolverines, where he has won three individual NCAA championships. He is touring around the country with Simone Biles’ Gold Over America Tour, which stopped in Boston on Oct. 6 and 7.
Two years ago, on a rainy night deep in the San Fernando Valley, I went to watch Bronny James play. That year’s Sierra Canyon team was notably worse than those of years prior. Bronny was the only all-American on the team and the only upperclassman with real NBA potential. In previous years, he could hide behind his NBA caliber teammates, but not that year — this was his team. That night, Bronny threw down a powerful between-the-legs dunk in game — his most famous highlight to date. While throwing an eastbay in-game is not a guarantee of basketball excellence, I would argue that it does show a brilliant flash of raw talent. A talent which, given Bronny’s 6-foot-2 frame, was truly remarkable.
Legacy can be tricky. In any field, when your name carries weight, the expectations that come with it can be suffocating. But in sports, it’s a different kind of pressure. It’s not just about living up to the name on your jersey, it’s about expanding upon the greatness that you inherited.
The Jumbos returned from a trip to Lewiston, Maine with a 3–1 win, improving their NESCAC record to 4–2–1. Tufts junior forward Elsi Aires and junior defender Lena Sugrue each scored a goal in the first half. First-year midfielder Sarah Hauck scored her second goal of the 2024 season late in the 79th minute.
Tufts women’s tennis traveled west to Smith College to participate in the 2024 New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament last weekend and returned to Medford with a pair of champions from the “B” draw competition. First-year Brooklyn Bindas and junior transfer Ellie Gershaw took the doubles title in their bracket, besting Megan Sun and Selma Petrie of MIT in the finals. Bindas and Gershaw each secured individual victories in the draw as well, with Bindas beating Petrie and Gershaw taking down Sun in the final singles matches.
