It may be time for the rest of the NESCAC to collect its belongings and get out of the way-the Tufts women's soccer team has found its groove.
With a 2-1 comeback win at Bowdoin on Saturday, the Jumbos extended their unbeaten streak to five, improving to 4-2-2 and turning around a discouraging start to the 2006 season. The win put the Jumbos in fifth place in the NESCAC, positioned for a climb heading into today's showdown with fourth-place Wesleyan.
Things didn't look good early for Tufts. Bowdoin came out with more intensity, and it resulted in an early strike. In the sixth minute, senior tri-captain Ivy Blackmore struck an unreachable shot past Tufts senior tri-captain goalkeeper Annie Ross. The goal was Blackmore's second of the season and put the Jumbos in an early one-goal hole.
"Our first half wasn't our best," senior tri-captain Jen Fratto said. "[But] I think that we showed how much potential this team has by the second half."
That potential burst out when the Jumbos took the field after halftime. Improved defensive efforts allowed the offense more time with the ball, and the result was seven shots on goal and two tallies.
The first goal came from a combination of two junior defenders. Rebecca Abbott received a well-placed corner from Joelle Emery and elevated herself above all Bowdoin defenders to redirect the ball past Bowdoin junior goalkeeper Kat Popoff.
In the 71st minute, junior forward Lauren Fedore broke the deadlock, scoring her fifth goal of the season. Fedore was able to turn to her left foot and place a shot into the right corner, beating Popoff into the right hand corner.
The Tufts defense turned in a solid performance, holding the lead with strong play and teamwork. Ross was only forced to make one save in the second half and finished with a total of three. In the end, the Polar Bears couldn't solve the Jumbos, who have come together offensively in recent weeks to turn around an 0-2-2 start to the season.
"This was a team effort all around," senior tri-captain Kim Harrington said. "Everyone really stepped it up in the second half when we needed it. This game showed how much depth our team has. When new players stepped onto the field, the level of play stayed the same."
Vitally important to Tufts' recent success has been the play of the defensive unit and, particularly, Ross' leadership in goal.
"Annie is a great leader back there," Fratto said. "It's really important to be able to trust your goalkeeper, and I think we all have great faith in Annie. You can tell she really wants it, and that reflects on the rest of the team."
Ross made many big saves in last year's historic run to the NCAA Semifinals and has stayed big in the goal this year. In the team's past four games, Ross has allowed only two goals and posted two shutouts.
"Annie has been a key factor in all of our games," Harrington added. "She has come up with some really big saves and kept us in games that we could have lost."
Tufts will need more help from Ross as they look to a showdown with Wesleyan this afternoon. The Jumbos were stunned in a 1-0 upset loss at Wesleyan last season, but this time around, the Cardinals are coming to Medford, and the Jumbos are looking for revenge.
The Cardinals are 3-2-0 in league play this season (5-4-0 overall) and after a 5-1 opening-day blowout loss to Williams on Sept. 9, every game but one has been decided by a single goal, including two overtime wins. Wesleyan has a league-leading nine shutouts this season, and the Cardinal defense will test the recent offensive chemistry and reliability that the Jumbos have pieced together.
If the Jumbos are to continue their climb up the NESCAC standings, this afternoon's game is a crucial one. A win would give Tufts a 3-1-2 conference record, putting the Jumbos within striking distance of a fight with Amherst, Williams, and Middlebury for the conference's top spot.
But a victory over the Cardinals won't be easy.
"We have to realize that Wesleyan is a completely different team this year," Fratto said. "They are doing really well this year, and midweek games can be pretty tough. We need to come out hard, realizing that this is a really big NESCAC game for us."
