In what will likely be labeled one of the most noteworthy games of its season, the women's soccer team ventured into the Lyons' lair in Norton, Mass. on Wednesday to take on nationally-ranked No. 8 Wheaton College. And after a 90-minute battle, the Jumbos emerged with another victory tacked to their undefeated record.
Tufts' 2-0 win over the Lyons pushed the region's No.4 team to 3-0-0. While victorious against these two NESCAC competitors, the team knew that this game against the Lyons, ranked second in New England, would be a bit more trying.
"I felt like the most important thing going into the game was believing in ourselves," coach Martha Whiting said. "We had to just play our game. We both have very different styles of play and we needed to set the tone early on and believe."
Early in the game, Tufts launched a corner kick that led to two dead-on shots, both of which were denied by the Lyon defense. The Jumbos assumed control of the game just before the end of the first half when sophomore Sarah Nolet drilled a free kick above the goalkeeper's head directly into the upper-right corner of the net.
In the end, that goal was enough to secure the contest, but the Jumbo offense was still on the hunt. With less than four minutes to play Tufts notched an insurance goal as junior Fanna Gamal set up junior tri-captain Cara Cadigan, who snuck the ball past the keeper in the bottom-right corner. Cadigan's goal, her third of the season, made this contest Wheaton's first regular season home loss by more than one goal since Oct. 5, 1996. As they ran down the clock, the Jumbos also halted Wheaton's 23-game regular season home winning streak.
"It came down to heart," Whiting said. "We really gutted it out. Every player that stepped out onto the field gave her all and really left it all on the field. In the end we got the positive result."
"It was a full team effort," senior tri-captain Maya Shoham said. "We went in very confident and we knew this game would be important later in the season not only for the standings but for respect in the league. We definitely wanted to leave everything on the field."
The victory kept the team's perfect shutout record alive, as the Jumbo defense has yet to yield a goal. Shoham credited the defensive line for its solid performance against the Lyons, who had scored 16 goals in the four matches leading up to their scoreless Wednesday.
"The defense stepped up huge," Shoham said. "To keep a team like Wheaton off the board was a very big feat."
The defense, anchored by sophomores Carrie Wilson and Audrey Almy and freshmen Cleo Hirsch and Olivia Rowse, has played exceptionally this season, warding off a total of 25 shots from opponents thus far. While the defense has had success because of its cohesiveness as a unit, Almy stepped up and played particularly well against the Lyons.
"Audrey was winning balls everywhere and was shutting down all of their forwards completely," Wilson said.
"[She] did a great job in both halves," Shoham said. "She did a good job keeping the Wheaton attackers on their toes and not letting them get a goal."
Also notable was the play of junior Kate Minnehan and sophomore Hannah Jacobs in goal. While the Lyons out-shot the Jumbos 22-12 in the game, they were unable to put one past the rock-solid Tufts goalkeeping tandem.
"The goalkeepers came up huge," Wilson said. "[Wheaton] had a breakaway midway through the second half and [Jacobs] was able to slide-tackle the attacker and shut her down."
Jacobs made a total of six saves in the second half while Minnehan ended the first with one.
With three wins under their belts, the Jumbos look ahead to their Homecoming face-off with Bates tomorrow. The players agree that this victory heightened the team's confidence and will help set the tone for the next few games.
"With Homecoming coming up, this win was a huge confidence-booster," Wilson said. "We proved to ourselves that we can step it up when we have to."
