While Saturday's loss marked an all-too-familiar end to the Jumbos' season, the young Tufts squad goes into the off-season looking to return more experienced, stronger and healthier for 2006.
As a team that carried only three seniors (tri-captains Todd Gilbert and Mike Guigli, and defender Mike Lingenfelter) and only had three juniors seeing significant minutes (tri-captain Jon Glass and forwards Mattia Chason and Ben Castellot), Tufts knew from day one this fall that working young talent into the system would be an uphill battle.
The team was also riddled by injuries this season. Glass and sophomore midfielder Greg O'Connell were among the Jumbos sidelined and slowed by injuries over the course of the fall, and a health condition kept junior defender Aaron Nass off the field for the entire season. While the injury bug bites every program, Tufts needed every veteran to play an integral role with so many young bodies contributing for the first time.
"I think it could have been a completely different season if [Nass] could have played," Glass said.
Middlebury, with five seniors and six juniors who saw regular action over the course of the season, out-muscled Tufts and benefited from a pair of questionable calls on Saturday.
"I think more than experience, [Middlebury has] just had a lot of calls go their way," the junior tri-captain said. "The ball has never bounced our way. They're physical and experienced, and they've been playing that way for a long time now."
For the moment, though, Tufts finds itself once again on the outside looking in, pondering what might have been in 2005 and what it hopes to accomplish in the future.
"We can only go up from here," Glass said. "We're losing Guigli, Todd [Gilbert], and Mike [Lingenfelter], but I think we have a lot of young players that can step into their roles, and it will be our third year playing together."
