The Homecoming rains weighed heavy on the visiting Bobcats Saturday as the women's soccer team took down Bates 2-0 at Bello Field. Freshman Jamie Love-Nichols and sophomore Sarah Nolet scored one goal apiece to lead their team to the key NESCAC victory.
Despite the unfavorable weather, the Jumbos were able to adjust and successfully execute on the pitch. Fresh off its upset victory on the road against national No. 8 Wheaton Tuesday, Saturday's conference victory brings the squad to an impressive 3-0-0 in the conference and 4-0-0 overall
"Obviously there were different conditions," junior midfielder Fanna Gamal said. "I think that a factor like the weather kind of acts like an equalizer. The bottom line is that both teams had to play in the same conditions. Even though they were not ideal, I think it was still a fair fight."
The first goal came in the 34th minute as Love-Nichols notched her first career tally with the Jumbos, dribbling past Bates goalkeeper Brittney French on a one-on-one and tucking the ball away unassisted in the back of the net.
In the 59th minute, freshman midfielder Alix Michael sent the ball to an open Nolet, who was able to net it for her second goal in as many games.
"The first half we didn't come out as strong as we would have liked to," Gamal said. "I think it had to do with the weather conditions and the different field. But in the second half we came back and were able to dictate the tempo of the game which is what we wanted to do. It's nice to know that even though we didn't have that kind of game in the first half that we could come back like we did, because not every team can recover like that."
On the defensive side, the Jumbos were able to hold the Bobcats to a mere two shots, out-shooting them 11-2. While the Jumbos had a steady five shots and six shots in both halves, respectively, the Bobcats had only two in the first -- both saved by junior goalkeeper Kate Minnehan -- and zero in the second.
The Tufts defense can proudly polish their pristine shutout record as they have fended off an astounding 27 shots in the past four games, allowing not a single ball to go through their solid defense.
"The defense has been playing great," Gamal said. "Even though we are really young in the back, I think they have really picked the principles up well. Overall, our team defense all over the field is really cohesive and we've had a lot of success because of it."
The team, after graduating seven seniors last year, is now composed of 12 freshmen and sophomores, five juniors and only one senior.
"The freshmen are great," Gamal said. "Even though we are really young I think that there is a lot of potential."
"It has been a really smooth transition," coach Martha Whiting added. "We have a lot of veteran people who have a lot of game experience. The freshmen coming in are very talented and coachable and that coupled with the experience of the older kids really makes this a great team."
Over the years, Tufts has handled the Bates squad well, last losing in the regular season in 2003. In 2006, however, they met in the first round of the NESCAC tournament in late October, as the second-seeded Jumbos fell 2-1 in overtime to the seventh-seeded underdog in Bates.
Tufts has outscored its opponents 7-0 and out-shot them 44-27 this season. Contributing to the team's goal total so far have been junior tri-captain Cara Cadigan leading with three goals, Nolet with two, Love-Nichols with one and fellow freshman Alyssa Von Puttkammer with one.
The perfect Jumbos now turn to their next game tomorrow against Babson College on Kraft Field. Tufts has won its last three contests against the Beavers, outscoring Bates 9-2 over that stretch.
