The men's soccer team pulled into Hartford, Conn., on Saturday riding a five-game winning streak, looking to cruise by the Trinity Bantams, who entered the weekend winless in NESCAC play.
The Jumbos had a surprise waiting for them, however, as the Bantams shot them down by a score of 3-1, earning their first conference win to improve to 1-6 and 2-8-1 overall.
The loss to an easily beatable conference opponent like Trinity has serious playoff implications for the weary Jumbos, who have only five points in conference play this season. Instead of continuing their streak and earning a much-needed win for a chance at home-field advantage in the playoffs, the Jumbos are now tied for sixth place in the conference at 2-4-1, with a daunting match-up with the Williams Ephs ahead next weekend.
Junior tri-captain Greg O'Connell reflected on his team's poor showing in such a crucial game.
"We weren't mentally prepared," O'Connell said of the Trinity game. "You could sense the attitude coming off the bus. We were a little too high on our horse."
Coming off a five-game stretch in which they accumulated a perfect record and outscored their opponents 20-2, the Jumbos suddenly looked human against Trinity. The Bantams flew out of the gate and pounced on the ill-prepared Jumbos, scoring in just the sixth minute. Trinity senior defender Drew Murphy sent sophomore midfielder Dan Kupper on a breakaway for an easy uncontested goal.
Despite the poor start, the Jumbos were able to quickly even the score in the 16th minute when midfielder Alex Botwinick attempted a shot that glanced off a Bantam defender. Freshman midfielder Bear Duker found himself uncovered at the side of the goal and knocked the loose ball into the open net for his third goal of the season.
Tufts' good fortune would end shortly after, as sophomore midfielder Peter DeGregorio was disqualified from the match in the 22nd minute, leaving the Jumbos shorthanded with only 10 players for the remainder of the game. DeGregorio was given a yellow card for a questionable slide tackle and picked up the red for dissent for his subsequent reaction to the call.
"We had a slow start, and once we got the red card, we just couldn't pick it up and score," Duker said. "It's hard to compensate for losing a man on the field."
The Jumbos had previously shown their ability to triumph over adversity, as shown in their earlier comeback win over Rhode Island College on Oct. 3. This time around, however, the Tufts squad couldn't muster the same offensive spark that led them to back-to-back 5-0 shutouts last week, one over NESCAC rival Bowdoin and one over non-conference Plymouth State.
"I didn't see the same team that went out against Bowdoin," O'Connell said. "We seemed complacent."
Only minutes after DeGregorio's ejection, Trinity junior forward Spencer Vinal exploited the shorthanded weakness by scoring on a pass from junior forward Jonathan Hayes, putting the Bantams up 2-1.
Despite playing with only 10 men and losing senior defenseman Aaron Nass to an injury sustained during the game, the Jumbos hung tough in the second half. They kept the score locked at 2-1 until the 78th minute, when Vinal notched his second goal of the game on a feed from sophomore midfielder Michael Van Beuren.
Meanwhile, the Jumbos were unable to sustain consistent offensive pressure and appeared to be merely playing a passive defensive game before Vinal sealed the Jumbos' fate in the latter portion of the second half.
As senior tri-captain Jon Glass reflected on the team's disappointing loss, he admitted that Trinity's squad played with more intensity than the Jumbos.
"They came out wanting it more than we did," Glass said. "They played real hard and didn't give us many chances. We just struggled to get a rhythm and didn't create many chances like we had in the previous games. This was their last home game, they had a big crowd, and it meant a lot to them to come out and beat us. And that's what they did."
"It was a reality check," O'Connell said of the loss. "It wasn't one of those things where you can say it was good for us. We can't afford reality checks-we're below .500 in the NESCAC. We just need to move forward and string together some victories like we're capable of doing."
The Jumbos will get a chance at redemption when they face UMass Dartmouth Tuesday at Kraft Field. The Corsairs are 5-5-1 on the year.
