Last weekend, a tough loss to Trinity dropped the Jumbos to second place in the NESCAC. Tomorrow, a monumental win over Williams will boost them right back to the top spot.
Tomorrow morning, the women's soccer team will travel to Williamstown for a critical conference showdown against the 12-0 Ephs. A win would improve the Jumbos' conference record to 7-1 and put the team in position to win its second NESCAC regular-season title in the past three years. The nationally-ranked No. 6 Ephs, however, are Tufts' most formidable opponents this season, boasting the top offense and defense in the conference and an unbeaten NESCAC mark.
"We have to beat them anyway, but it makes it a little more critical now if we want to host the tournament," coach Martha Whiting told the Daily last week. "I think it's going to be an epic battle because there will be so much at stake, and you're going to have two very good teams going against each other.
"Any time you play a NESCAC game on a Saturday when there's a lot at stake, it's intense and it's fun," she continued. "Those are the games you look for - we're really excited for it."
While the Jumbos feature the conference's leading scorer in sophomore midfielder Cara Cadigan, Williams' lineup includes a top offensive threat of its own in junior forward Gabrielle Woodson, whose 10 goals are second to Cadigan's 12.
The Ephs field a balanced offense behind Woodson, with three other players who have scored at least five goals apiece. In its past three games, all against conference foes, Williams' offense has outscored its opponents 15-1 and outshot them 67-14.
The Ephs have also dominated on the defensive side as first-year starting goalkeeper Lauren Sinnenberg has posted a NESCAC-leading .971 save percentage. Williams has only surrendered two goals all season and just one en route to its 7-0 league mark.
Tufts, meanwhile, broke out of a mini scoring slump on Wednesday, posting a season-high five goals against non-conference Keene State in a shutout win. In two games prior to their win over the Owls, the Jumbos connected for just one goal on 37 shots. In the latter of those two games, Tufts was shut out for just the second time this season, dropping a 1-0 contest to Trinity Saturday that ended an eight-game winning streak and handed the team its first NESCAC loss.
But the Jumbos aren't dwelling on the Trinity game any longer and instead find themselves playing without the burden of a winning streak and an unbeaten conference record. Now the pressure is on the Ephs, who need a win to maintain their perfect season and clinch their first NESCAC regular season title since 2001.
"Winning streaks are definitely a dangerous thing because people are out to beat you," senior Joelle Emery said. "I think that now that we don't have that added pressure, we don't have anything to lose, and we're just ready to go and take it to [Williams]. They're the ones who have something to be nervous about right now."
"The pressure to continue a 12-game winning streak like Williams has is a lot," Whiting said. "I feel like for them, they're on their home field, they're playing for the right to host the tournament, and so I feel that a lot of pressure is on them. We put our own pressures on ourselves, but I think having a loss like the Trinity loss brings you back to reality and it just gets you more excited to get out there next time."
While Williams has gone 4-2-2 in regular season games against the Jumbos since 1999, the past three contests have all been close. Meetings in 2004 and 2005 ended in ties, and last year's game, which the Jumbos won 1-0, was decided on a penalty kick early in the second half. If either team has had the upper hand in the last three seasons, it has been the Jumbos, who haven't trailed the Ephs in a regular season game since 2003.
But Williams will have the benefit of playing on its home field, where it hasn't lost in its last 12 regular-season games, a run that dates back to the end of the 2005 season. The Jumbos have proved to be a formidable road team, however, going unbeaten in four games away from Kraft Field this season and taking eight of their last nine road games overall.
"I don't think we've ever won at Williams in the history of our program ... it's all or nothing," senior Lauren Fedore told the Daily last week. "We have nothing to lose when we go up there."
Rachel Dolin contributed reporting to this article.
