If Saturday's game is a reflection of the level of competition in the NESCAC this year, the Tufts men's soccer team is in for a tough season.
The Jumbos finished in an anticlimactic 1-1 tie in double overtime after a rough, back-and-forth game that tested both sides' fitness, will, and mental toughness. The lone Tufts goal, a clutch slide kick from junior Dan Jozwiak in the 61st minute, saved the Jumbos from an opening-day loss and ruined the Mules' hopes of a key NESCAC road win.
Senior co-captain Jon Glass gave a mixed review of the Jumbos' debut performance.
"Overall I don't think we played up to our potential," Glass said. "I definitely think being tired and the heat were part of it. We had a lot of people playing different positions [from what they are used to], but I think our defense played solid. A lot of the young guys played pretty well. We're starting to get our chemistry as a team."
The Mules scored their lone goal of the match just 4:33 into the game, when sophomore midfielder Todd Boertzel curled a corner kick over the Jumbo defenders into the side netting of the goal.
Inaccuracy plagued both sides, and neither team scored for the remainder of the half. Multiple shots flew wide of the posts and over the crossbar with both the squads failing to capitalize on scoring opportunities.
Tufts came closest to finding the back of the net when senior forward Mattia Chason received a well-placed feed from junior forward Dan Jozwiak, but the opportunity fell through. Tufts again threatened Colby senior goalkeeper Josh Kahane, a co-captain, with a power shot by senior forward Ben Castellot later in the half.
Freshman midfielder Bear Duker, who set up Jozwiak's goal to notch his first college points, felt the draw was a result of both a talented Colby defense and the Jumbos' failure to connect on offense.
"Our team needs to pick up on finishing," Duker said. "I'm sure we are going to work on that."
"[We need to work on] just putting the ball in the net," Glass added. "We had our chances; we just couldn't finish."
From the opening whistle of the second half, momentum had clearly shifted to the Tufts team, as it overwhelmed the Colby defenders with precise passing and quick shots on goal. Kahane played an important role in keeping the Mules in the match, recording five of his eight saves in the second half, in which Tufts put up 11 shots on goal.
The Colby defense finally gave way to the Jumbos' pressure at the 61-minute mark when Duker out-dribbled a Colby defender and found Jozwiak on the left side of the field running to slide the ball into the net, tying the score at 1-1.
Tufts' dominating second half saw a collaborative effort from multiple players on the field.
"[Jozwiak] had a great goal," Glass said. "The goal we did get was very nice. [Junior defender] Alex Bedig played well in the back. Bear Duker came in the played well for us, and it was [freshman goalkeeper] Pat [Tonelli]'s first game as well."
Following the Duker-Jozwiak combination, Tufts remained scoreless to the final whistle, sending the match into overtime.
The two extra frames were all defense, with both the Mules' and Jumbos' back lines effectively shutting down any offensive spark from the opposing side. Tonelli anchored the Tufts defense and recorded six saves in his collegiate debut.
In the past, clashes with Colby have been similarly tight, with the Jumbos winning the past 10 match-ups, but all by a single goal, including 1-0 wins in the past two season openers.
"[Colby] played alright, and they're getting stronger every year," Glass said. "They aren't going to dazzle you with their offense, [but] once they get up on you, it's hard to score on them. We were pretty much dominating, but we just couldn't finish our chances."
Though the Jumbos failed to start off their season with a win on friendly turf, the season is still young, and the tie avoided an early-season sub-.500 record.
"Coming away with the tie is not bad," Glass said. "We all wanted to win, but it's not a loss. We still have a clean record, and I know we'll come back and play better next time."
The Jumbos will hit the road this week to face MIT on Wednesday and Middlebury on Saturday. Tufts will be looking to avenge a 3-2 home loss to MIT that started a three-game losing streak last season.
The Middlebury Panthers lay in wait after the Engineers, a team that beat Tufts twice last season, including a 1-0 victory in the NESCAC tournament. The Jumbos haven't beaten the Panthers since Nov. 6, 1999, when they won 2-1. Since that game, the Jumbos have had a record of 0-9-2 against Middlebury, including five NESCAC tournament game losses.
