Nine years ago, on Oct. 26, 2000, New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera induced a fly ball to center field from New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza, setting off a raucous celebration at Shea Stadium and giving the Yankees the first World Series championship of the new millennium with a 4-2 victory over their Subway rivals.
This weekend Tufts University will host the NCAA New England Regional branch of the Division III National Volleyball Tournament. The Jumbos, who made it to the second round last year before being dispatched in a five-set nail-biter by the Wellesley Blue, begin their tournament Thursday afternoon against the Lady Mariners of Maine Maritime Academy. Last Saturday, the Mariners won their third straight North Atlantic Conference title, dominating their competition.
With the top runners for the men's and women's cross country teams sitting out in order to rest for the upcoming New England and NCAA National Championships, the two Tufts squads called on their JV runners to step up this past Saturday at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship, hosted by Williams at Mt. Greylock High School in Williamstown, Mass.
Jess Perkins, Field Hockey - Perkins got the Jumbos off on the right foot in Sunday's NESCAC championship, scoring her first of two goals just over a minute into Tufts' 3-2 victory over Trinity. Just 1:17 into the game, Perkins and Amanda Roberts combined for a nifty give-and-go, resulting in Perkins' slotting a shot past Trinity's goalie to give Tufts the early lead. Less than a half an hour later, Perkins would double that lead, this time from a penalty corner assisted by Margi Scholtes. The goals were the third and fourth of the season for the junior midfielder, who finished the game with three shots.
Heading into Sunday's NESCAC championship match, the Jumbos were looking to make it four-for-four against Williams this season and claim their first conference title since 1996. But after advancing past Wesleyan (3-1) and Amherst (3-2) in the first two rounds of the NESCAC Tournament, Tufts stumbled in the finals, falling 3-0 to the now three-time defending champion Ephs.
No matter how the game plays out, whether it's a shootout or a defensive struggle, the Tufts football team simply can't seem to come out on the winning end.
Having nearly completed an upset of undefeated Williams just two weeks ago, the Tufts women's soccer team found itself back on Cole Field in Williamstown, Mass. with another chance to knock off the No. 2 team in the country. This time around, a ticket to the NESCAC Tournament finals was on the line. The style of Saturday's game was completely different, but the ending was all too familiar: another Williams victory.
After dropping its third consecutive game to Amherst College (6-0) last week, the Tufts football team needs to reevaluate its game plan going into another NESCAC brawl with Colby College this weekend.
Here are some thoughts and musings from what can either be the happiest or most depressing (for a Red Sox fan) moment of the season: the Yankees post-World Series on-field interviews. (A side note: I'm trying to never let the thought of A-Rod as half-man, half-centaur leave my mind.)
Today marks a full month since the Tufts volleyball team last played a match on its home court, so it would be understandable if the team had grown a little homesick and travel-weary. Fortunately for the Jumbos, they are finally coming home. The NESCAC women's volleyball tournament will kick off tonight and, for the second year in a row, Tufts is playing host.
Liverpool has long been revered as one of the great clubs in soccer, with 18 league titles and five European cups — tops of any English team. But Liverpool has not won the English Premier League or its predecessor — the Football League First Division — since the 1989-90 season, a period that has culminated in years of underachieving in the Premier League.
Sometimes a team just needs to cut its losses and start preparing for a new season. For the Tufts men's soccer team, that statement is certainly true.
I have always been one to hold a grudge. And to be honest, I'm sort of proud of it. I think it shows a strong sense of determination and character.
It happens nearly every year like clockwork.
Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees shook off the Philadelphia Phillies with ease last night, beating them 7-3 to win the World Series in six games. It was the Yankees' first championship in nine years but their 27th overall, a major league record.
Thanks to a Williams upset effort this past weekend, the second-seeded Tufts field hockey team will play against the fifth-seeded Ephs on Saturday in the NESCAC Tournament semifinals, hosted by top-seeded Trinity. But the Jumbos hope to avoid being the second straight powerhouse victim for Williams as they look to earn a berth in Sunday's final.
When the Tufts women's soccer team takes to Cole Field in Williamstown on Saturday in its NESCAC semifinal matchup, it will have to contend with the two-time defending NESCAC champion Williams Ephs. But if you ask the Jumbos, they are relishing the opportunity to get a second look at the undefeated and nationally ranked No. 2 Ephs (15-0-0, 9-0-0 NESCAC), particularly after the result from the last time the teams met.
After an impressive 25-17 upset of the No. 2 seed Western Connecticut State University, the No. 7 seed men's rugby team has advanced to the Div. III New England round of four with a championship in sight. The Jumbo ruggers, who finished the season with a 5-1 record, will face Keene State in their semifinal match this Saturday with the hopes of making it to the finals. If they do so, they will have an opportunity not only to win the championship, but also to potentially exact revenge on the team that handed them their only loss on the season: UMaine Farmington (UMF). "If we win this Saturday, we go to the New England Championship game against the winner of the Bryant versus UMaine Farmington," junior starting forward Andrew Ward said. "We're hoping to get a rematch against UMF in the finals." The New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) North Conference Champions in the fall of 2008, the Jumbo ruggers were usurped by UMaine Farmington in this fall's North Conference Championship. UMaine Farmington was a new addition to the division this year after coming down from Div. II but showed its prowess quickly in taking care of the Tufts squad to win the conference title. "Losing the conference championship to UMF was a letdown because we won our conference last year. But then again, UMF is a good team, and they also won their conference last year, so at least we lost to someone good," Ward said. "But unlike last year, we came into these playoffs as an under-seeded team and won. Last year, we lost [in the] first round of the playoffs to Plymouth State, the reigning national champions. "This was the first playoff game Tufts Rugby has won since anyone at Tufts currently has been playing rugby, so that was bloody sweet and very emotional to everyone," he continued. The team has a constituency of about 40, though about 10 upperclassmen are out do to injuries. Luckily, the team has worked hard to recruit and has gained 15 or so freshmen. The nature of the sport allows athletic players to adapt quickly, which has allowed the team to burgeon despite injuries and other obstacles. "Many of the people who come out to play rugby are ex-cross country, football, track, water polo, soccer players, fencers and wrestlers," Ward said. "It's a sport that anyone can learn how to play quickly, just so long as they don't mind hitting and getting hit. The majority of the starting players on our team never played before high school." Of course, the Keene State game is the No. 1 priority for the ruggers. Progressing from a losing season three years ago to a conference title last season, the rugby team does not plan on letting anything get between it and a NERFU Championship. "Keene State? We're going to beat the bloody snot out of them," Ward said. "We're going inside of ‘em, we're going outside of ‘em — inside of ‘em, outside of ‘em — and when we get them on the run once, we're going to keep ‘em on the run. We're gonna get ‘em on the run, we're gonna go, go, go, go! And we aren't going to stop until we go over that goal line!"
