The women's soccer team won its eighth consecutive game on Tuesday, and for the eighth consecutive time, sophomore Cara Cadigan was a difference-maker.
For the third time during that steak, the Jumbos won 1-0, this time beating Wesleyan on the road to improve their flawless NESCAC record to 6-0.
The shutout not only improved Tufts to 4-0 on the road, but it also put the team within striking distance of the program's longest all-time winning streak, a span of 10 games back in 2005.
"There are some similarities between the kind of chemistry we had in 2005 and our team now," senior Joelle Emery said. "We're working really hard and we're working for each other. But we're playing a different formation than we did then."
Although 2007's 4-3-3 formation has generated a significant amount of firepower on offense - the Jumbos have scored 21 goals in 10 games - Tufts only managed to push one ball across the goal line, no doubt a product of Wesleyan's 4-4-2 setup, which packs a lot of defenders at the 18-yard box and forces teams to take a lot of outside shots.
Tufts launched 19 shots in the game compared to Wesleyan's three, but all the Jumbos had to show for it was one goal.
"We actually dominated on offense," senior co-captain Martha Furtek said. "They had great defenders individually, but they didn't work together as well as our defense does. Having so many shots is a testament to how much we outworked them in the second half."
"The way they play is they put a lot of people into the box," Emery said. "It's pretty typical of Wesleyan. It you look at their games this year, they mostly lost by a goal, so it's pretty difficult to score on that team."
The Jumbos finally broke through in the second half on a feed from senior co-captain Martha Furtek to Cadigan with just under 20 minutes remaining in the game. The goal was Cadigan's 11th of the season to put her four shy of tying the program's 26-year-old single-season record set by Lisa Raffin (LA '84).
"If you compare the games from last year, I don't think we gave up many more goals," sophomore goalie Kate Minnehan said. "But this year we're just scoring so many more goals because of her addition to the team."
Cadigan and her off-the-charts numbers have certainly not gone unnoticed around the region, and although teams may try to mark her, she has not had trouble getting around opposing defenses so far.
"She's a great player," Furtek said. "It's hard to mark speed. We can get the ball to her and she can beat three defenders - she's able to make a move and get by them. The reason she's so successful is she's able to stay composed."
"She was being marked in the game on Tuesday," Emery said. "Martha got her a ball she was able to run to. She has explosive speed, so it's almost impossible to stop her."
On the other end of the field, the Jumbos had no trouble stopping the Cardinals. The defensive line of seniors Joelle Emery, Julia Brown and co-captain Annie Benedict combined to hold Wesleyan to three shots, making Minnehan's day easy in goal - she didn't have to make a save all day.
"Against Bowdoin, we worked on pushing the ball up the field and just trying to make sure they never really got possession of the ball," Emery said. "We've been working on winning 50-50 balls, and not allowing them to turn or generate offense."
Tufts will continue to buckle down on defense when it plays Trinity Saturday, a game the Jumbos won 4-2 last season during their six-game winning streak. This time around, both teams are hot - Trinity has won its last six games - and Tufts knows a victory over the Bantams will be no easy task.
"Everyone has been very impressed with them," Furtek said. "They have had great seasons in the past couple years and they always play us strong."
The Jumbos will look to maintain their hold on first place in the NESCAC this weekend. Right now, the team is tied with Williams at 6-0, but it knows the season is far from over.
"We're looking very good, but we still have Williams, which is going to be huge," Minnehan said. "But Williams also has two other hard games against Middlebury and Amherst. It's hard to look at now, because it literally comes down to the last game of the season ... We just can never feel comfortable; I guess that's the key to the season - just play every game like it's the whole season."
Sapna Bansil contributed reporting to this article.
A women's soccer article in Thursday, Oct. 11's Sports section entitled, "Tufts remains unbeaten in NESCAC play with eighth straight win," incorrectly reported that senior Julia Brown is a starting defender for the team. Senior Jessie Wagner starts on defense.
