The men's soccer team lost its home opener 2-1 to MIT Tuesday night, blowing a second-half lead for the second straight game to fall to 0-1-1 on the season.
The game was played on Bello Field, a turf surface, due to the inclement weather during the day that made the grass surface on Kraft Field unplayable.
"The game was on turf which is incredibly fast and made it more difficult for both teams," senior forward Dan Jozwiak said.
For the third straight year, MIT came from behind to defeat the Jumbos on a goal in the final 15 minutes. As was the case last season, the villain was Engineer junior captain Andrew Bishara, who scored on a header off a free kick to give his team the victory. The Jumbos are now winless in their past five games against MIT, with an 0-3-2 record. The Engineers' victory moves their record to 3-0 on the season.
"The last two games, we've given up soft goals that have allowed two teams we should have beat back into the game," Jozwiak said. "We need to work on minimizing our mental mistakes and playing smarter."
The second-half collapse is becoming an all too familiar trend for the Tufts squad, who recorded five more shots than the Engineers in the first half and nine more overall. MIT goalkeeper Tom Caldwell made six saves in the first half, frustrating an active Tufts front line.
"We dominated the first half and should have scored two or three goals," sophomore midfielder Bear Duker said. "I thought we had them."
Despite controlling the tempo early, the Jumbos were scoreless in the first 45 minutes. Tufts broke through in the 54th minute, with senior tri-captain Greg O'Connell hitting a one-touch shot into the back of the net off a long pass through the middle from Duker. O'Connell has now scored all three of Tufts' goals this season.
The trouble started for Tufts in the 71st minute when MIT freshman Christian Therkelsen scored off a turnover by goalie David McKeon outside of the box, his fifth goal in just three games. Seven minutes later, Bishara put the Engineers on top for good, driving a header past McKeon off of a beautiful free kick from freshman midfielder Matt Talpe. Duker almost tied the game late when he hit the post, but the Jumbos could not find the net.
"I thought we played better than we did against Colby," Duker said. "It's easy to forget that soccer is a 90-minute game, and that what happens in the first 45 doesn't really matter. Even though we dominated the first half, we didn't win it because we didn't score."
The Jumbos' quest for their first win of the season will continue on Saturday, when they host NESCAC rival Middlebury. The Panthers are undefeated after winning their first two games of the season.
The Jumbos will be looking for their first conference win after tying Colby in their season opener. Despite the disappointing results thus far, the team knows that a win against the Panthers would cure their early-season ills. Last year, Middlebury beat Tufts 4-1 up in Vermont, and the Jumbos are hoping that home-field advantage will make the difference this time around.
"At home we just have more energy," Jozwiak said. "If it's a nice day Saturday, we're hoping for a good turnout."
Last spring the Panthers graduated their star goalie, 2006 NESCAC saves leader Zack Troth, but they do retain dangerous senior forwards Casey Ftorek, who led the league in points last year, and Brandon Jackson, who leads the team so far this year with five points.
"They're one of our rivals, and we've had some tough games against them, so we really want to beat them," Jozwiak said. "Getting our first league win against them would still get our season off to a great start."
