The men's soccer team was inches — and perhaps seconds — away from a 3-0 record and its first NESCAC win of the season.
The ball bounced off the crossbar. Other shots barely missed the net.
And with four seconds left in double overtime, Colby freshman Josh Lyvers made Tufts pay for the previous squandered opportunities, nailing a shot in the 110th minute to hand his team a dramatic 2-1 win, the Mules' second of the season.
There was no chance for the Jumbos to turn the ball around the other way and score, no time left to respond with an equalizing goal of their own. The ball slipped past senior tri-captain David McKeon, time expired, and the men's soccer team found itself on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
"We battled so hard for [110] minutes, and just to lose in the last four seconds of the game, it was awful," said sophomore Alex Lach, who assisted the Jumbos' goal. "We lost focus for the last 10 seconds, and they took advantage of it. It was a mental lapse for the whole team and we suffered the consequences."
After the two teams fought through 90 regulation minutes to a 1-1 tie, each struggled to find the back of the net in two overtime periods, despite putting a total of 10 shots in the cage. The Jumbos seemed to have an affinity for the post, capping their futile efforts with a shot by sophomore Pat Doherty that rang off the iron in the waning moments of the second OT.
Part of the story behind both squads' sluggish offensive efforts throughout the extra periods and regulation certainly belongs to the defenses, which stifled anything that resembled forward momentum. Despite Colby's five shots on goal in the first half -- compared to Tufts' three -- the Mules still couldn't slip one past McKeon, who finished with 12 saves on 17 shots.
The Mules drew first blood in the second half, as Colby junior Scott Brown drove to the middle of the field and launched a shot into the bottom-right corner of the net in the 51st minute.
"[Brown] made a nice move in the middle of the field," junior backup goalkeeper Pat Tonelli said. "It was a very difficult shot and he put it where [McKeon] just couldn't get it. I think one out of 10 times, that shot goes in."
Thirty minutes later, the Jumbos answered back with a goal of their own to tie the score at 1-1. Lach took control of the ball and ran up the sideline before dishing to fellow sophomore Ron Coleman, who nailed a score past Colby junior Doug Sibor in the 81st minute.
"[Sophomore] Ben Green threw the ball to the corner. I took a touch and crossed it into the box and I found Ron Coleman who had a great header and put it in," Lach said. "It was kind of a relief, because we were pushing and pushing and just couldn't score."
"We had been creating that same type of opportunity earlier and it wouldn't go in," Tonelli said. "Just two minutes before the goal, Coleman missed a goal on pretty much the same exact play. It shows the resilience on our part."
While the Jumbos' first goal was a relief, the net became elusive once again in overtime, as they had countless opportunities to take the game from Colby.
"The defense had played well for almost the entire game and shut [Colby] down," Lach said. "We created a lot of chances in overtime, but we just really struggled with putting them away. I had a couple of goal chances -- four maybe -- and I probably should have scored at least one of them."
Colby made the Jumbos pay in the final seconds of the game, but not before a controversial call against Tufts sophomore Josh Molofsky. The Mules scored the game-winner on the subsequent possession.
"[The referee] got us on a transition play," Tonelli said. "It was a one-on-one on the outside of the field, and from where we were standing, it looked like there may have been some light contact."
"The referee was pretty awful the entire game," Lach said. "He made a lot of questionable calls, but you just have to move on and keep on playing. We didn't react properly."
Despite the spirit-crushing last-second loss, the game offered one highlight for Tufts with the return of senior tri-captain Peter DeGregorio, who had missed the first two games with a groin injury.
"It meant a lot to such a young team to have an anchor like him on defense," Tonelli said. "He's able to set the tone for the rest of the team, and when you see a guy like him working as hard as he has, you want to work just as hard."
After taking on New England College Wednesday, the Jumbos will man the pitch for a long-awaited rematch with Conn. College on Saturday. The Camels knocked Tufts out of playoff contention last year in heartbreaking fashion after Conn. College tied the game in the final minute of regulation before emerging victorious minutes into the first extra period. The loss is still fresh in the memories of those who were on the team last year, so the Jumbos will be waiting with bated breath for their chance at redemption.
"We're definitely looking forward to bouncing back and bouncing back strong," Lach said. "These are the games we must win if we're going to be in contention for the postseason."
