Sophomore midfielder Bob Kastoff's shoulder-high shot to the right side of the Colby goal was all it took for the Men's soccer team to secure a victory in its opening match of the 2005 season. With an experienced defensive four in front of rookie keeper Brian Dulmovits, Tufts shut out the White Mules 1-0 on saturday in Waterville, Maine.
The victory gave the Jumbos a running start in the NESCAC race on a day when perennial league competitors Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury and Williams all tallied wins over their NESCAC opponents.
"This was a big win for us starting out the season," senior tri-captain Mike Guigli said. "We got our momentum going coming into the next few home games. We're going to look good this year."
"We were obviously the better team," junior tri-captain Jon Glass added. "Our emotions were so high at first [because] it was the first game of the season, but we showed our experience at the end after we scored the goal."
Kastoff took the shot that would prove to be the game winner eight minutes into the second half. Until that point, the two teams had battled back and forth, with neither squad able to capitalize in front of the goal.
"We were able to create some good opportunities, but we never tested their goalie in the first half," Guigli said.
When the Jumbos finally did test Colby junior keeper Josh Kahane, the Mules' last line of defense failed the exam. After junior striker Mattia Chason played a through-ball from midfield, catching Colby on a counter-attack, Kastoff streaked down the left wing, receiving the ball on the other side of the Mules' defense, and beat Kahane to the right side of the net.
"Bobby was one on one with the goalie and placed a really nice shot," Glass said. "It was a powerful shot and he showed a lot of composure."
Tufts was able to hang on to the 1-0 lead primarily due to the strong defensive play. The starting backfield - sophomores Andrew Drucker and Derek Engelking and seniors Mike Lingenfelter and Glass - illustrated their experience in front of their freshman keeper, holding the Mules to just seven shots on the day.
"The defense as a whole played pretty solid," Glass said. "All week long we worked on shape and form. We played well as a unit."
A huge question mark for the team leading up to the Colby match lurked between the posts in the form of the open goalkeeper position vacated by 2005 graduates Matt Sullivan and Scott Conroy. Three candidates - junior Oliver Bushnell and freshmen Dulmovits and David McKeon - shared time in the goal during practices last week. At game time, however, it was Dulmovits who got the nod from coach Ralph Ferrigno.
"[Ferrigno] selected Dulmovits out of the three goalies because he just liked him best," Guigli said. "He did really well out there for his first time. You could tell he didn't seem flustered coming out as a freshman. It's a good sign for the season."
The 5'11'' freshman from Sayville, N.Y. had a strong first performance with the 90-minute shutout. Dulmovits saved six Colby shots while dealing with a raucous crowd.
"Their fans were all over us; they had 40 drunk people right in [Dulmovits'] face," Glass said. "He handled it really well and made the big saves when he needed to."
"They weren't that good of a team," Dulmovits said. "They had one really good shot and we handled that pretty well. The defense is a great bunch of soccer players and was really supportive."
Tufts had 11 shots on goal, but only converted on the Kastoff/Chason opportunity. The team will focus on its attacking shape to create better opportunities this week as it prepares for its first home match on Wednesday against the non-conference M.I.T. Engineers.
"Playing at home is going to be a big advantage; we're all looking forward to it," Glass said. "We're on a roll now and we're just going to let the momentum take us into the M.I.T. game."
Last season, Tufts tied the Engineers 1-1 in double overtime on the road.
