After losing to the Tufts water polo team in the regular season, Amherst, Coast Guard and the University of Vermont all got to take a second shot at the undefeated Jumbos at last weekend's North Atlantic Division Championship at Bowdoin.
But Tufts once again proved too tough to beat, sweeping the competition to earn a bid to the national championship tournament. The Jumbos are 11-0 in conference play this season.
In the final, the Jumbos took down a Lord Jeffs team they had not faced since Sept. 16. The Jumbos were able to counter the strengths of Amherst's team - its strong swimming and speed - and come out with a 16-11 win.
"[Amherst] is a swimming team and really fast, and we're not much of a swim team," junior attacker Pete Georgakakos said. "We knew they had one shooter, and we just defensively made sure we were covering the guy who could shoot and the guys who could swim."
"Generally they're in a little better shape than we are, but we know how to play the game better," junior hole set Ben Mitchell said. "We didn't let them get fast breaks and didn't make stupid plays on offense. When it was their turn to be on offense, they couldn't really do anything because our defense was so tight."
While Amherst was able to draw several ejections, the Jumbos stayed focused and refused to yield defensively.
"Everyone just really stayed calm and kept their composure throughout the game," Georgakakos said. "We just kept playing our game, and we didn't let the refs define our mood."
The Jumbos, fueled by hole sets Mitchell and senior Eric Appelin, also maintained a strong offensive presence, with top scorer Georgakakos leading the way. Georgakakos' presence, recognized by other teams, opened up some other Jumbos for looks on goal.
"It's gotten to the point where all the other teams expect him to do all the scoring, because he's spectacular," Mitchell said. "We still have Pete scoring the majority of our goals, but we look to other players now. Especially in this final tournament, all the teams that had seen him before know how good he is, and when he's double-teamed we can't really do much.
"For the most part, we started to learn from him, seeing how he gets open for the shots," Mitchell continued. "I [started off] always looking to him on my left, but now I'm looking to my right, and the guy on the right is doing the same thing he is, making shots and getting open for a good pass."
Before the Amherst game, the Jumbos faced an aggressive Coast Guard team that jumped out to an early lead in hopes of handing Tufts its first loss of the season. The Jumbos, who came out a little sluggishly, found themselves in a hole as they tried to slow down Coast Guard while simultaneously struggling to adjust to a series of refereeing calls that set them off a beat.
"The reffing was really bad all weekend, and it started to get to people," Georgakakos said. "Everyone was really frustrated. But [senior co-captains Drew Curhan and Marshall Somers] calmed us down and got us level-headed."
"What we ended up trying to do is settling down and doing what we do best," Mitchell added. "That's playing good defense and setting up to make our goal. As soon as we get that first goal, everyone starts scoring, so we just had to wait."
In the third quarter, the Jumbos finally took the lead and the game, 15-9, with help from junior goalkeeper Hayden Reich.
"A couple times against Coast Guard, we kind of got caught with them behind us with the ball," Georgakakos said. "[Hayden] ended up blocking shots when it was just him and the shooter ... He keeps everyone very confident on defense, because we know that even if they do get a shot off, we don't have much to worry about."
Tufts' first game of the tournament, a showdown with last-place University of Vermont, gave the Jumbos a chance to utilize their bench and give newer players some championship experience. Despite not having competed since Sept. 30, the Jumbos churned out a 22-7 victory.
"We played okay in that first game, but we had some things to work out because of not playing for a month," Curhan said. "It was a game where we learned what to improve on to take into the next two games, which were more important. We weren't as strong on defense as in the past, and we tried to get more intense and more aggressive."
Next stop for the Jumbos is St. Louis, Mo. where they will take part in the Div. III Men's National Collegiate Club Championship tournament for the second year in a row. The Jumbos will not have to worry about any rustiness that might have set them back last weekend; they will head to the competition only a week after winning their division.
"I think it's better for us," Curhan said. "We played such a good game against Amherst, and we want to keep the ball rolling. We'll take this week to stay fresh, stay in shape, and recuperate from last weekend."
"Last year when we came to Nationals, we were just psyched to be there," Mitchell added. "This year, we're still psyched to be there, but I know that we're a solid team. We're ready for anything, and we want to win it all."
