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

Tufts takes down Hamilton on Senior Day

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Junior forward Tal Smith keeps the ball in play with an acrobatic pass in the Jumbos 2-0 win over Hamilton on October 25, 2014.

In a fitting end to an already picturesque Senior Day, the Jumbo faithful were treated to what will be one of their last glimpses of greatness on Kraft Field this regular season: senior midfielder Gus Santos' abs. Santos' goal with 20 seconds to go capped off Tufts' 2-0 victory over Hamilton, and gave him a chance to tear off his shirt in celebration.

However, what the Jumbos were really celebrating was the fact that they are now one tie away from clinching their first-ever NESCAC title. Even if they were to lose to Bowdoin -- a team that has yet to beat a top-five NESCAC opponent -- this Wednesday, Tufts would still likely be a coin-flip away from first place.

The Jumbos, however, still had to take care of business this past Saturday against the Continentals, which is exactly what they did. Tufts put on a clinic throughout the game, and although Hamilton kept the game close through the first 45 minutes, the talent and pace of Tufts' attack eventually wore out the visiting team.

In the first half, the Jumbos were able to keep the Continentals' attack quiet while producing several quality chances for themselves. Tufts also appeared to gain an additional boost with all eight of its seniors starting, including midfielders Michael Miele, Kento Nakamura and Kyle Volpe, who have typically come off the bench this year.

"Yes, I think there was [more energy]," junior midfielder Rui Pinhiero told the Daily in an email. "The seniors have done so much for our program, and it was really important for the team to show them how much we appreciate what they have done. They have put in an enormous amount of work over the past four years to get the program to where it is today."

One of the best opportunities for Tufts came at the end of the first half, when junior midfielder Tal Smith got the ball on the far right side of the field and brought it into the box, where he fired a low pass across the front of the goal that just missed senior forward and co-captain Maxime Hoppenot sliding toward far post.

Pinhiero also continued to shine in his role as playmaker, sending a number of dangerous balls into the box off of corners, but Hamilton sophomore goalie Harris Pollack was able to get his hands on most of them.

"I think scrappy is the apt word [to describe the first half], and that's indicative of Hamilton being a pretty darn good team," coach Josh Shapiro said. "The league is just horribly deep. They're 1-6-2, but they're just a good team, and they defended well and they made it hard to get going ... they're just really competitive and formidable."

In the second half, the Jumbos came out much faster, and spent much of the first part of the half deep in the Continentals' territory.

Only six minutes into the half, Tufts finally converted one of its opportunities. Junior midfielder Connor Brown beat everybody down the right side of the field and sent a beautiful cross into the box that found its target in senior center back Peter Lee-Kramer. The Continentals were able to get in front of Lee-Kramer's header and tried to clear the ball out, but instead the ball found Tufts' other senior center back, Sam Williams, who settled the ball from his chest and one-timed a soft line drive that bounced off a sliding Pollack and trickled to the left post, before nestling just inside the goal.

"Once you really start trusting each other and really move the ball quickly is when you can start opening up teams, and that started to happen," Shapiro said. "I thought [Hamilton] got tired, and we got to break them down. It just took almost a little bit of fatigue in their group before we could really kind of open them up and get at them."

Tufts did not slow down its attack after the goal, and had several opportunities to grow its lead over the course of the half. It appeared as if the Jumbos were on their way to a goal after Hoppenot turned the Continentals over at midfield, and found himself in a two-on-one with Santos, but the two stars could not sync up for a goal.

However, Santos was not to be denied a fifth-straight game with a goal, and with under a minute to go took advantage of a pressing Hamilton attack. Junior midfielder Jason Kayne got control of the ball in the midfield and with, most of Hamilton's team in Tufts' end of the field, was able to find a wide open Santos on the left side of the field. Santos confidently brought the ball down the left sideline, before cutting into the box and calmly depositing a curving shot into the net's right side.

"I thought Gus started really brightly and stayed aggressive, and it was great to see him get another goal and get rewarded for the way he's been playing," Shapiro said. "I thought it was one of his more complete performances, where he's being aggressive, he's getting at players [and] he's also defending responsibly and giving us a lot in both directions."

The biggest play of the game happened only minutes before Santos' goal, when Hamilton created one of its few true threats: Junior midfielder Erich Marcks' cross from the right side of the field found senior forward Griffin Abbott for a header that appeared destined to tie the game, but sophomore keeper Scott Greenwood made a tremendous diving save on a ball that was shot only feet in front of him.

The save was theonly one that Greenwood had to make on the day, as Williams, Lee-Kramer, first-year Matt Zinner and junior left back Connor Schaible all performed admirably throughout the game. Schaible, in particular, stepped up big, playing left back for the game despite playing right back during much of his first two years at Tufts.

Tufts does not have much time to celebrate its win, however, as the team will make the trip to Bowdoin this Wednesday for a game that will play a big factor in determining the final NESCAC standings.

"We are approaching this game like we have approached every other game this season," Pinhiero said. "We will prepare in practice and make sure that we have the right mentality on game day to get over a long bus ride in order to secure a result on the road."