To pick up its first NESCAC title since 2002, the women's soccer team will have to win two consecutive games against a pair of New England's top 10 teams - Bowdoin and the victor of a Williams-Middlebury matchup.
Since the inception of the NESCAC Tournament in 2000, Tufts has played in five first-round games and has only moved beyond that round once prior to this season. The Jumbos took care of that problem in Sunday's first-round game against seven-seed Conn. College. After squeaking by the Camels on Saturday, 3-2, the Jumbos hurtled into the NESCAC semifinals with a resounding 6-0 win.
"It was great in terms of our confidence," coach Martha Whiting said. "We were disappointed with ourselves after Saturday's performance, and it was nice to play a team again and prove to them what kind of team we are and have the other teams thinking 'wow, watch out for them.' "
One team that will not have to watch out for the Jumbos is Bates, which, both due to the Jumbos and to their relief, is out of contention. Tufts exorcised a few of its postseason demons with a 1-0 win over the Bobcats on Sept 29, a win which mathematically eliminated Bates from the tournament.
Last season, Bates knocked Tufts out of the playoffs with a 2-1 overtime victory, and in 2005, the Bobcats handed the Jumbos a 2-1 double-overtime loss in the conference championship game.
"I guess it's nice to know they're out," senior Joelle Emery said. "When we beat them in the regular season, that loss made sure they wouldn't make the tournament; so in a way that was our revenge. But it is a relief that we don't have to play them."
As far as past history is concerned, the Jumbos drew a much better card for this year's semifinal round. In addition to getting its seventh straight win at the Polar Bears' expense - a 4-1 victory on Oct. 6 - Tufts has the historical edge as well, holding a 6-2 edge in regular-season games since 2000.
The teams have to go all the way back to that year for their last postseason showdown. They met twice in the 2000 postseason - once in the semifinals of the NESCAC Tournament and a week later in the NCAA New England semifinal round - and the history is similarly bright for the Jumbos, who won both games.
But no one on either 2000 team is still around, and this year's Jumbos are only looking ahead.
"They're a very good team," Emery said. "We beat them 4-1, but they were having an off-day and we were having a great day. If we play the way we did on Sunday, we'll be able to beat them."
From the Jumbos' vantage point, they match up well against the Polar Bears, who are statistically the weakest defensive team of the remaining NESCAC squads. Bowdoin has surrendered an average of 1.07 goals per game, compared to 0.21 for Williams, 0.87 for Tufts, and 1.00 for Middlebury.
While that might be good news for the Tufts offense, the defense will certainly have its hands full as the Polar Bears trail just Williams in goals scored this season.
"Bowdoin is one of the most organized teams offensively in our conference," Williams coach Michelyne Pinard said. "You have to play a disciplined game to be effective against them. They're terrific individually, but they play together so well."
"Their biggest strength is at center mid, and their forwards can be very dangerous," Whiting said. "They have an All-American forward on their team, which is always something to contend with. They're well-coached and well-organized. And they'll be out for some blood, because 4-1 in soccer is a big score."
That forward is senior tri-captain Ann Zeigler, who garnered Third Team All-American honors in 2005, All-NESCAC First Team recognition last year, and leads her team in shots, points and assists.
"They have a strong offense, and they're able to score goals on teams;" Emery said. "They always have powerful strikers. Their weakness is their defense, which is great for us because we have powerful strikers up front."
Although Bowdoin has posted some impressive offensive numbers - including eight-goal and six-goal outputs this season - it has not fared as well against Tufts' defense. Since this year's senior class joined the program, the Jumbos have surrendered just two goals in their four regular-season matchups.
But like in all NESCAC games, anything can happen, and both teams have a shot at reaching the championship game.
"The four teams in this tournament are the four teams that should be there," Whiting said. "I don't think anyone squeaked in. It will be a great, great game."
