It finally clicked for the men's soccer team. After nearly three weeks of ties and losses, the Jumbos turned the tables with a 5-0 rout of non-conference Salve Regina yesterday, marking the team's first victory of the season and pushing its record to 1-4-1.
Four Jumbos scored, and the team got a pair of goals from senior tri-captain Ben Castellot to blow by the Seahawks and finally put one in the win column.
"If the score had remained only 1-0, on the run we've had of late, I think we would have taken that," coach Ralph Ferrigno said. "But it was nice to get a few goals. Even though we didn't play smoothly at times in the first half, we were still creating chances. You have to be happy with 5-0."
Despite a promising preseason look, the team had remained winless in its five games this so far and brought a four-game losing streak to the Salve Regina match that had the Jumbos wondering if their season had gone down the drain.
"We went to England [during] preseason, and we did pretty well," junior defender Alex Bedig said. "Because we felt we had that really solid preseason, we weren't really sure why we were losing. We were really competitive in every game, but we lost.
"Actually, it seemed like, for a while, we were just finding new ways to lose," he continued. "But we were playing close matches, and it just had to turn around."
Although Tufts started slow at the opening whistle, key players stepped up to secure the victory with the usual suspects coming through for the Jumbos: In addition to Castellot's pair, senior Mattia Chason and junior Dan Jozwiak scored from the front line and freshman Bear Duker added one from his spot at midfield.
"In this game, I'd say, pay tribute to the forwards," Ferrigno said. "They all scored, and they look dangerous. I thought that Ben stepped forward, and Dan, who didn't play at the weekend, made a good return as well."
Following the Seahawk's kick-off, the Jumbos were initially slow off the ball and failed to connect passes.
"It's been a theme of our season; we've let up a couple goals in the season in the first five minutes," Bedig said. "But in the first 15 minutes of any game, teams are feeling each other out. You're a lot more cautious than you would otherwise be, and so you don't take as many chances."
The Tufts defense was also experimenting with a new formation, incorporating a flat-back four defense wherein the fullbacks press up the wings when the ball is up the field. The defensive pattern is designed to keep the defense compact.
Tufts had multiple opportunities in the first 10 minutes, coming the closest at the 35:39 mark when a header sailed the cross bar off a corner kick from the right side. The Jumbos first got on the board a minute later when junior forward Bob Kastoff gained control of the ball in a scuffle in the six yard box, tapping the ball to Jozwiak, who put it past freshman Salve Regina goalkeeper Kurt Ginthwain.
After a frustrating string of near-misses and promising runs that amounted to little, Tufts found the netting with three minutes left in the half, jump-starting the offense. The Jumbos gained control of the ball in the midfield, and Castellot fed freshman midfielder Bear Duker a pass down the middle, allowing Duker to slide the ball on the ground into the left-hand corner past Ginthwain.
Tufts capitalized on its newfound momentum a little over a minute later when junior midfielder Greg O'Connell drilled a ball on the ground across the face of the goal, finding senior forward Mattia Chason ready to tap the pass into the net for a 3-0 lead going into halftime.
The Tufts players exhibited better individual ball skills than Salve Regina, and the three first-half goals could easily have been more. The statistics point to the Jumbos' poor finishing: There were six corner kick opportunities and 18 shots in the first half alone, only three of which found the back of the net.
"It's something we're going to have to concentrate on, because, obviously, if you score goals, it's the difference between a win and a loss," Ferrigno said. "We have some good players who can score goals, but it's more about how the forwards play together. At times, they tend to play by themselves, and there has to be more movements off each other."
Though the Jumbos held a considerable lead on the Seahawks at half, past experience taught them to treat Salve Regina with caution. In the teams' 2005 meeting, Tufts had a 2-0 lead on Salve Regina going into halftime, but allowed a second-half comeback and ultimately fell 4-3. "On the run we've been on lately, I feel like we've been punished for every mistake," Ferrigno said. "I told the group, 'Keep concentrating; minimize your mistakes.'"
The Jumbos took the advice to heart and began focusing more on maintaining possession by passing around the Seahawk challengers. Castellot took charge in the half, burying the ball only four minutes into the half off a brilliant through-ball from sophomore midfielder Sam James for a 4-0 lead.
With 15 minutes remaining, Castellot struck again with a solo run down the center of the field, curling the ball into the lower left-hand corner under substitute keep senior Geoff Wiley, the final goal of the match.
"It was big for Ben, hitting the net twice today," Bedig said. "He was a big scorer for us two years ago, and he had a tough season last year."
Ferrigno felt the first win had extra significance for the morale of his team.
"Psychologically, it was important to win," Ferrigno said. "Confidence starts to come back a bit. We can see that players have lost confidence; that's natural if you're not getting results."
Next up, the Jumbos face NESCAC opponent Bates on Homecoming Saturday.
"Hopefully, [the win] gives us a little boost going into the Bates game," Ferrigno said. "I'm sure it'll be a tough game. If we don't come to play, we'll be in trouble."
