The men's soccer team hosted the Wesleyan Cardinals on Tuesday night in a hard-fought 2-1 loss that extended its winless streak to four games.
The Cardinals remained among the league's five undefeated teams at 3-0, while the loss dropped the Jumbos to 0-3-1 overall and 0-2-1 in NESCAC play.
Wesleyan controlled the ball for nearly the entire game, allowing only few offensive opportunities for the Jumbos.
"[Wesleyan was] really well-organized; we knew that going in," junior co-captain Greg O'Connell said. "They were really structured defensively and have a good midfield. They were easily the best team we have faced so far this year."
The ball always spent much of the first half on a Wesleyan foot. The Cardinals maintained possession in the midfield throughout the opening 45 minutes, gaining space on the outside of the 18-yard box. The extra time and space allowed Wesleyan to execute crosses into the box, threatening the Jumbos' defense.
The Tufts backfield responded well, however, and kept the Cardinals off the board for 56 minutes. Senior co-captain Jon Glass was responsible for two particularly critical clears as Wesleyan applied suffocating pressure around the Tufts cage.
This diligent protection of the goal kept the game at a 0-0 draw entering halftime, but the statistics reflect Wesleyan's dominance in the half. The Cardinals logged seven shots compared to just a single attempt by the Jumbos.
The second half welcomed a quick change in momentum when senior forward Mattia Chason wriggled his way through two defenders on a broken play and beat Wesleyan junior goalkeeper Matt Gnall with a well-struck ball to the left upper-90 of the goal just 35 seconds into the second half. Junior midfielder Alex Botwinick notched the first point of his Tufts career on the assist.
"Our first half, we didn't have any chances, but our defensive side was keeping us in the game," O'Connell said. "So we were happy to score on the first shot of the [second] half to support our defense."
Wesleyan quickly responded with a goal of its own in the 57th minute, tying the game and swinging the momentum back to the Cardinals. Freshman Nick Whipple found junior defenseman Justin Mello streaking down the left side of the field. Mello beat the defense to the ball, and carried it before launching a shot past freshman goalkeeper Pat Tonelli into the lower left of the goal, tying the game at 1-1.
Minutes later, a ball played into the box resulted in a near-game-breaking opportunity for Wesleyan. Tonelli, who had six saves in the match, made a sprawling point-blank save in order to keep the game knotted at one apiece.
Wesleyan dominated the midfield for the remainder of the game, increasing its shot total to 16 with nine second-half chances. Tufts mustered four shots and only one strike on goal, and Gnall escaped with the win only having to make a single save.
Tufts' hopes of earning its first victory faded fast as sophomore forward Matt Nevin found the twine in the 81st minute off a delicately feathered through-ball by junior midfielder Sam Griswold that set up a 2-on-1 transition break.
In the waning minutes of the game Tufts applied hurried pressure on the visiting Cardinals but was unsuccessful at setting up a cohesive offense around the 18.
"Both the goals came off of them running through our back," O'Connell said. "That can be attributed to a lack of communication. The second goal came off a quick transition play that caught us off-guard, and that's something we're going to have to work on."
Still winless on the season, the Jumbos are making some changes to their preparation, as a critical conference road match-up against Amherst on Saturday looms large.
"Up until this point, we have been doing a lot of individual skill work and trying to get people in shape," he said. "This week, we're going to try to build more team chemistry and focus on set offensive plays. We are developing an identity as an offense."
The Jumbos will have another chance to notch their first win against the unbeaten Lord Jeffs on the road at Hitchcock Field.
"We're in a little bit of a spell right now, but we just have to look forward as if we're starting a new season right now," O'Connell said. "You can't dwell on that kind of stuff because it will spread throughout the team and kill any chance of winning. So we're just looking forward to a good week of practice to remedy our mistakes and starting over at Amherst."
