The women's soccer team traveled to Keene State on Wednesday riding a seven-game unbeaten streak and closely resembling the 2005 team that steamrolled through the regular season and put together an 11-game unbeaten streak.
However, when the dust cleared, the team had given up its highest goal total in two seasons as the non-conference Owls downed the Jumbos 5-2, ending the winning streak and dropping Tufts' record to 6-3-2 overall.
Keene State's offensive scheme was firing on all cylinders, as the Owls came out firing, netting two goals in the first half against a sluggish Jumbo defense.
"They were playing a different kind of formation than we were used to," junior defender Joelle Emery said. "They had their strikers pushed very far up, which is something we as defenders haven't been used to. Once they scored that first goal, we kind of let down and let them in for the first half."
The Owls picked up their first goal during the 30th minute when sophomore Kathleen Keniston found the far side of the net, just beyond the reach of senior goalkeeper Annie Ross, for an unassisted goal.
The Owls capitalized on transition balls, successfully pressuring the Tufts defense into giving up goals to the speedy and aggressive Keene State offense.
"They were fast, probably the fastest team that we've played against," Emery said. "They were also physical, but a lot of it was that they stayed pushed up on us. We weren't used to it, and we haven't encountered it this season."
Toward the end of the first, Owl junior Renee Halsey took a feed from senior Breanne Lucey and sent it to the back of the net for Keene State's second goal. Keniston struck again in the 46th after she took a lead pass from sophomore Michelle Boland and knocked it in alone to give the Owls the 3-0 lead. Once again, transition play proved difficult for Tufts to counter.
"They're actually a really good transition team," senior tri-captain Jen Fratto said. "All of a sudden, they got the ball out, and next thing you know, it's a goal. No team has ever has ever come at us with that great of transition."
After Keniston's second goal, Tufts changed its strategy and jumpstarted its offense, creating scoring opportunities by taking risks and pushing the offense forward in order to shift the game's momentum away from the Owls.
"You have to push up, and you have to score," Emery said. "We were trying to really push up and keep the ball up in the offensive third; it's a risk you have to take when you're down. We play with a lot of pride, and we weren't playing how we could. We didn't want to leave the field being embarrassed and shut out."
Junior forward Lauren Fedore managed to put the Jumbos within striking distance, impressively scoring two goals within 10 minutes of each other. She scored the first off a loose ball in the 58th minute, followed by a 24-yard rocket that narrowly missed the crossbar in the 67th minute off of an assist from junior midfielder Martha Furtek.
"When it was 3-2 at that point, I don't know that anyone on our team thought we would have lost," Fratto said. "And you could see it in [the Keene State players]."
Tufts' defense also altered its approach in favor of a more aggressive playing style to prevent the Owls from generating chances off the transition ball.
"All over the field, we were trying to win 50-50 balls more, which wasn't really happening in the first half," Emery said. "As a defense, we tried to push up more and win more 50-50 balls so they didn't have opportunity to turn and counter quickly on us."
Yet Keene State proved too much for the Tufts defense, as freshman Katrina Stauch shocked the Jumbos with two goals within 30 seconds. Both came in the 78th minute, effectively drowning Tufts' hope for a comeback.
Given the turnaround early on in the second half, the Jumbos felt that they ended up playing a much tighter game than the final score indicated.
"The score doesn't really reflect how we played against them," Fratto said. "I hate the fact that we lost 5-2, because it definitely wasn't a 5-2 game. We were the better team, but we didn't play as the better team. They came out and played well against us. It might have been their best game all season."
Tufts now has to shake off this tough loss and look ahead to tomorrow's match against Williams. The Jumbos and Ephs are currently tied for second in the conference with 4-1-2 records behind 6-0-1 Amherst, meaning that tomorrow's game is for sole possession of second place in the league.
Emery said the loss to Keene State, while disappointing, is not too detrimental in the big picture and might even be a blessing in disguise.
"Obviously we're not happy with how we played, but it doesn't affect our NESCAC standings; it's a non-conference game," Emery said. "So if this is what we need - if this is the wake-up call we need to go unbeaten the rest of the season - I'll absolutely take it. Hopefully, it will help us to get seriously pumped up for Saturday's game."
