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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Tufts ends scoring drought with three goals against UMass Boston

2014-10-18-Womens-Soccer-vs-Williams-1
Tufts rebounded from its 1-0 loss to Williams with a tie and three goals against UMass-Boston on Tuesday.

Tufts scored three goals on Tuesday in its tie against UMass Boston, breaking the team's five-game slide -- in which the team went 1-4 -- en route to scoring as many goals on Tuesday as they had in their previous six games combined. The three goals were not enough to give the Jumbos the win, however, as the Beacons overcame three different one-goal deficits to tie the game, which stayed deadlocked through double overtime. The Jumbos moved to 6-5-2, while the Beacons are now  7-3-5 on the season.

"Of course we would have liked a different outcome [against UMass Boston], but I think this [tie] has given us a lot of motivation and excitement to come out stronger this coming Saturday [against Hamilton]," senior co-captain Catharine Greer said. "Even if we didn't win, we're excited to give it our all on Saturday."

The team has two games left in the regular season, the first of which is this Saturday, Oct. 25 against Hamilton. Tufts attack will try to draw momentum from the three goals scored on Tuesday and break their five-game conference slide, in which they have been unable to score a single goal against a NESCAC opponent since their 1-1 double-overtime tie with Wesleyan on Sept. 16.

"Getting three goals [on Tuesday] we obviously saw that we can score, [but] getting three goals scored on us is very odd for us," Greer said. "Now that we know that we can score, and we know that we have great defenders, [we need to] be able to put it all together [on Saturday]."

Greer scored the first goal in the 25th minute off a corner kick from senior co-captain midfielder Carla Kruyff, snapping a 324-minute and 44-second Jumbo scoreless streak.

"Definitely coming out and possessing a lot in the first half, that was definitely memorable," Greer said. "The connection of me and Carla [Kruyff] off one of the corners, that was also really memorable."

UMass Boston answered less than four minutes later off a give-and-go in the box. Freshman Hannah Petersen fed classmate Marina Kelly to give Kelly her sixth goal of the year. The stalemate did not last for long, with the Jumbos reclaiming the lead off a Kruyff goal -- a high shot across the box over the head of Beacons goalkeeper Dani Perkins -- before halftime.

"We were doing a good job in the first half of connecting and doing quick passes, transitioning forward, getting the ball and attacking from our defenders, cutting through the midfield and transitioning offensively," Kruyff said. "That was the most memorable for me, just getting back in the groove of things and playing how we know we can play, for the first half especially."

UMass Boston senior Krista Ledin evened the score before the hour mark, counterattacking on an attempted Tufts' clearance, racing past the defender and slipping the ball just past Tufts keeper sophomore Eileen McGarry for her 95th career goal.

Tufts was unfazed, responding again in the 75th minute. Kruyff's hard low shot off a corner kick gave the Jumbos their third lead of the night at 3-2.

"Yesterday we did a good job of finishing our chances, granted we had more opportunities than we've had in previous games," Kruyff said. "But especially on set plays we were able to get the ball in the goal. It was great to know we can get the ball in especially in preparation for this weekend's game."

With just five minutes left in regulation, the Beacons held off a Jumbo victory with a goal from Ericka Garufi off a Ledin cross into the box that tied the game at 3-3, a score that remained throughout the remainder of the game.

Although Tufts' three goals on the night were split between Greer and Kruyff, the co-captains of the team, Kruyff believes that the team's performance this year has been a result of the entire team's effort and not solely a result of the team's leadership.

"Honestly the whole season has been very team oriented, I don't think it has much to do with what me and Catharine [Greer] do," Kruyff said. "When everyone wants to win, when everyone has the right mindset, it makes our job easier as leaders to just continue [moving forward]. We don't have to do much to get them in the right attitude to play their game [and] everyone's been doing their part, trying to score all the goals. It just happened to be that Catharine and I scored the goals [against UMass Boston]. It's really been a team effort [this season]."

"We just need to be motivated and keep our heads up [on Saturday], and focus on getting the result," Greer said. "To not let our past games discourage us [will be the key on Saturday], and we'll be able to come out and get the win."