When a team that finished the 2024 season 16–4 — making the Elite Eight for the fifth consecutive season — returns many of its starters from the quarterfinal, the No. 2 ranking in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association’s poll seems appropriate. This week, the Jumbos more than proved their mettle by taking care of three opponents with double-digit victories to start their 2025 season.
The season opened Saturday afternoon with a visit from NESCAC opponent Connecticut College, who were looking to build off a 7–8 season from a year ago. The Camels started strong defensively, with goalie Ava Virga recording four saves in the first six minutes of play before being a woman up when the Jumbos’ senior defender Caroline Cromwell received a yellow card. Ironically, playing down a woman proved to wake the Jumbos up, as halfway through the penalty, senior midfielder Ella Lesperance scored the Jumbos’ first goal of the season off a transition opportunity. Under a minute later, after winning a free position, junior midfielder Elsa Schutt, making her first career start, buried another shot into the back of the net, giving the Jumbos a 2–0 lead before the penalty expired. After graduate student midfielder Madeline Delaney scored her first goal of the season, the Camels scored the last two goals of the quarter, leaving the Jumbos up by only one goal.
Throughout the second quarter, the two teams traded blows, with the Jumbos outscoring the Camels 4–2 across a quarter that featured 12 fouls. With the game still full of suspense, the Jumbos delivered a devastating blow with 17 seconds remaining in the first half with the skill of graduate student midfielder Emma Joyce. She weaved through the entire Camels’ defensive line and sent Virga the wrong way to give the Jumbos a 7–4 lead heading into the second half.
In the second half, after conceding an early goal to cut the lead back to two, Jumbos’ head coach Courtney Shute made a brilliant tactical change — introducing senior attacker Kate Mastrobuono into the lineup. Mastrobuono, the tallest Jumbo at 6-foot-2, used her height to see over the Camels’ defense, allowing her teammates to get into their normal offensive flow. Goals by Joyce and Mastrobuono came just seconds apart, before Mastrobuono passed to senior attacker Margie Carden on the goal’s doorstep, putting the Jumbos up 10–5. After Camel attacker Kate Coughlin performed a hat trick to score, sophomore midfielder Schuyler Lloyd restored the Jumbos’ 5-point lead. Receiving a pass from Mastrobuono for a goal with only 15 seconds left, the third period ended at 11–6. The Camels would get the first goal of the fourth period, cutting the lead to 4 points. At this point, the Jumbos decided to step up to their reputation, limiting the Camels to only three possessions the entire quarter and outscoring them with seven goals through the final 13:29 of the game.
The Jumbos’ offense was led by Joyce, who scored four goals; junior attacker Allie Zorn, who recorded a hat trick in the span of 10 minutes in the fourth period; and Lesperance, who completed her hat trick in the game’s final minute. Senior goalie Pascale de Buren would finish with five saves on 12 shots, while Virga made 13 blocks.
Mastrobuono, who finished with three assists and a goal, spoke after the game about the team’s ability to play in transition. “Coach always says one thing we can control is being the most athletic team on the field, so that’s something we want to … use to our advantage,” she said. When asked about the team’s long-term mentality, she highlighted what Shute had mentioned in her preseason preview about being focused on the present rather than the long-term goals of the team.
This mentality would prove successful again on Sunday in Bristol, R.I. in a dominant 20–7 win where the Jumbos led for all but the first five minutes of play. The nonconference matchup would feature more squad rotation, with 11 different Jumbos recording a goal, including career-first goals for first-year midfielders Annie Bergeron and Anna Mollahan. Additionally, Zorn recorded her second consecutive hat trick alongside Conaghan and Delaney, who reached three apiece themselves. Cromwell, who became a starting defender after moving out of the midfield halfway through the 2024 season, scored in her new position, while fellow senior Carden became the first-ever Jumbo to score 200 career goals minutes later. De Buren would have a phenomenal performance, saving 10 of the 17 shots she faced in the afternoon before getting the fourth quarter off to give sophomore goalie Sophie Powless and first-year goalie Devon Chipman some experience. For Roger Williams, defender/midfielder Kimmy Creegan led with two goals, while no one else recorded multiple points on a frustrating afternoon for the squad.
After the 2–0 weekend, Tufts returned to Bello Field on Wednesday afternoon to play Endicott, racking up their third win of the year with a 20–6 victory. The team will continue NESCAC play on Saturday at Trinity, the first of eight matchups against ranked opponents in Tufts’ regular season campaign, as the long-term goals of the No. 2 team in the country roll into their present challenges.
