The Jumbos hosted the third round and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Div. III Tournament over the weekend at Bello Field, coming away with 1-0 victories in both games. Tufts faced No. 15 UMass Boston on Saturday and, thanks to junior midfielder Dexter Eichhorst's second-half goal, was able to progress to the quarterfinals.
On Sunday, the Jumbos defeated the Kenyon College Lords. Senior co-captain forward Nate Majumder found the net for the go-ahead goal after over 100 minutes of scoreless play.
The quarterfinal round match up against Kenyon was a rematch from last season, when Kenyon eliminated Tufts with a game winner 18 seconds before the final whistle. As both teams came out strong again this year, the first half of the game consisted of a lot of play in the middle third and continuous back and forth between each goal. Although both teams took five shots in the first half, senior goalkeeper Scott Greenwood went unchallenged in the first half while Tufts forced Kenyon senior keeper Sam Clougher to make two saves.
Although Kenyon took 12 shots in the second half as compared to Tufts’ seven, it was not indicative of the flow of the game. Tufts settled in and controlled the tempo, and the ball spent the majority of the period in Kenyon’s end. Greenwood made six saves in the second half, the majority of which were easy balls that were either sent straight at him or were misdirected crosses. In the 54th minute, senior co-captain Zach Halliday had Tufts’ best scoring opportunity when he received the ball from a cross right in front of the goal. His shot skimmed past the left post.
The game progressed to overtime after 90 minutes of scoreless play. It was not until the second overtime, though, that the game was decided. In the 109th minute, sophomore defender Sterling Weatherbie executed a long throw-in that connected with Eichhorst in the box. Eichhorst headed the ball to Majumder, who managed to get a foot on the ball and send it past Clougher for the win.
Majumder said it was exciting to score the winner in such a high-profile game.
"We’ve been working on the long throw deep into their end, and we executed it very well, which we hadn’t done so far this season," he said. "It was [Eichhorst] who found the ball at his head and did a perfect flick in. I was just trying to get any part of my body on the ball to try to get it in the net.”
The Jumbos’ top scorer, senior forward Gaston Becherano, was uncharacteristically quiet this weekend, only taking one shot in the two games. First-year midfielder/defender Zachary Trevorrow was a force on the left wing the entire weekend, contributing several runs down the side to execute crosses in. First-year midfielder/forward Gavin Tasker, who switched off with Trevorrow, was equally impactful. First-year forward Joe Braun started his first game of the season against Kenyon in order to give Becharano a chance to rest.
Coach Josh Shapiro said that he knew that the team would be ready to take on Kenyon.
"I think that was a very good Kenyon team. They only graduated one significant contributor from last year who was a very good player ... Regardless, that was a very good team that came in and beat an excellent Trinity team," he said. "We knew we had our hands full today. It was a back and forth game, and both teams probably felt like they deserved it, but we got it, and the win over them feels fantastic.”
The UMass Boston Beacons entered their Saturday contest against Tufts with an 18-3-3 record and a bad reputation. Their second round game against Haverford resulted in two red cards and their leading scorer, 28-year-old first-year Ocane Williamson, being escorted off the field in handcuffs after head-butting the referee. Neither Williamson nor junior midfielder Joshua Khang, who was ejected for kicking a dead ball into an opponent's face, played against Tufts.
The first 30 minutes saw the Beacons take control of play, as they took eight of the first nine shots. The Jumbos found themselves desperately clearing the ball out of the defense, only for a Beacon to kick the ball back in. In the 13th minute, UMass Boston had a corner kick opportunity that resulted in a scrum in front of goal, which Tufts was lucky to emerge from without letting up a goal. It wasn’t until the 33rd minute, when Tasker sent a cross to first-year midfielder Zach Lane, whose header shot was saved by first-year goalkeeper Omar Castro-Dreher, that Tufts reminded everyone why they were in the tournament. From that point on, Tufts was the dominant team and earned four more close scoring opportunities before the end of the half.
In the second half, the Jumbos outshot the Beacons 14-7. Right from the start, the Jumbos pressed, with senior midfielder Kevin Lawson, junior midfielder Kevin Halliday,senior defender Daniel Sullivan and junior midfielder Tyler Kulcsar all making the Beacons’ jobs difficult.
In the 68th minute, Eichhorst found the ball at his feet on the edge of the box after the Beacons defenders miscommunicated. Without hesitation, he sent the ball into the back of the net, giving the Jumbos the lead that they maintained for the remainder of the game.
For about six minutes following the goal, the Jumbos' attack was entirely made up of first-years, with Lane and forwards Brett Rojas and Joe Braun all coming on and Tasker flanking on the wing. They continued to press, searching for an elusive second goal.
UMass Boston had a final opportunity to score with just under five minutes remaining, when it was awarded a free kick in a threatening possession. Greenwood made the save to keep Tufts in the lead. The game ended 1-0, marking the Jumbos’ third consecutive shutout and ninth in the season.
The weekend saw Greenwood's 37th and 38th career shutout as the senior goalkeeper continues to extend his record as Tufts soccer's most successful goalie. He attributes his success to the entire back line of the team.
“A lot of the credit a lot of the time goes to me for getting the shutouts, but it’s not just that by any means," he said. "Our team has such excellent defensive effort on and off the ball, pressuring where pressure is needed. Every time [the back line] come[s] out, I trust them with my life. I trust them to defend my net, and they make my job a lot easier than it could be.”
There is a 12-day gap between Sunday's game and the semifinals, which will be held on Dec. 2 in Salem, Va. In the Final Four, the Jumbos will face No. 8 University of St. Thomas (20-1-3). In the other semifinal matchup, Brandeis (13-5-4) plays Calvin College (22-2). Over the weekend, Brandeis, which is also unranked, upset reigning national champion Amherst in a penalty shootout. Should Tufts defeat St. Thomas, it will either face Brandeis, which the team defeated earlier in the season, or Calvin.
Jumbos headed to Final Four after double overtime win
