Exiting both the NESCAC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament on penalty kicks is hardly an easy thing to forget.
But for the women's soccer team, the graduation of seven key seniors could make putting the past behind it comparatively easier than anyone anticipated.
And with eight new players joining the roster this year, Tufts is ready to take on the 2008 campaign with a clean slate.
"Because we have so many new players — we have eight new players out of 20 — I'm sure the other kids are disappointed over our loss, but it's kind of a distant memory at this point," coach Martha Whiting said. "Everyone is so ready to move forward, and with so many new kids, there's a whole new kind of feeling on the team."
But with so many new faces making up the roster, Tufts will have no easy task at hand.
"The fact that we lost so many seniors is so big because they all played such key positions on the field," junior goalkeeper Kate Minnehan said. "Three of the four defenders were seniors and two of the midfielders and one of the forwards, so we're kind of feeling it all over the field. I think it's going to be important to see how the freshmen step up, not only because we lost so many seniors, but because almost half the team [are] freshmen."
But the team will hardly be short on leadership. While the Jumbo roster boasts only one senior, tri-captain Maya Shoham, the team will return with a strong core of talented sophomores and juniors who will help ease the adjustment.
"We have such a great group of returning kids," Whiting added. "Maya, along with our juniors and sophomores, [is] so ready, and they have a ton of experience. They're really going to set the tone for the year."
"Since we knew so many people were graduating, we were all pretty prepared to step up into leadership roles and take charge," junior tri-captain Whitney Hardy said. "As far as challenges go, for a team that lost seven seniors, it's really important to come together early on as a team and get to know each other so we can start having team chemistry on the field."
Key for the Jumbos will also be the returning of junior tri-captain Cara Cadigan, 2007's NESCAC Rookie of the Year. After sitting out her entire freshman year with an injury, Cadigan led the NESCAC in goals scored and obliterated the Jumbos' single-season scoring record, tallying 19 throughout the season. After last year's unprecedented success, Tufts will look to Cadigan to lead the charge offensively.
"I always think it's a little tougher the second year just because now everyone has played us once at least and some teams twice," Whiting said. "They know who she is, and they will defend her very closely. But Cara is a special player. She'll find her ways to score, whether through breakaways, beating people one-on-one, or shooting out from a distance.
"I think we'll also have kids around her that will score for us, so teams will have to seriously contend with other players, which might give Cara more opportunities," Whiting continued. "She's a goal scorer; she'll be great for us no matter whether she scores 100 goals or three goals."
Minnehan will also be critical for the Jumbos in the backfield. After posting a .789 save percentage last season, she will anchor a defense featuring four new starters this season in freshman Cleo Hirsch and sophomores Audrey Almy, Carrie Wilson and Bailey Morgan.
The season will kick off this Saturday when the Jumbos continue a tradition started in 2004, playing their opener against the Colby Mules (0-7-2), a NESCAC foe that they defeated last year 2-0. While the Mules tied Bates for the bottom of the league standings in 2007, Tufts will not be taking any NESCAC matches for granted.
"For us, as cliché as it sounds, we just have to focus on playing one NESCAC opponent at a time," Whiting said. "We can never get ahead of ourselves, and we need to do our best to compete as well as we can each time we step on the field for a game."
But while the Jumbos remain focused on the task at hand, the team is grateful that the game with the non-conference Wheaten College Lyons, an annual contest since 2004 that usually serves as Tufts' second game of the season, doesn't fall until Sept. 24.
The delay will give the Jumbos time to squeeze in another NESCAC home game against a traditionally weak Conn. College team before Tufts squares off against a Lyons team that has defeated the Jumbos the last two seasons.
"It's definitely going to help," Whiting said. "Maybe Colby and Conn. College didn't have the best years last year, but any NESCAC game is always a battle, so they're great preparation for playing against a team like Wheaton. We'll be happy to have those two games under our belt."
"Because our team is so young, I think every game we can get … before we play some really competitive teams will help us out," Hardy said. "We're still trying to figure out how each other plays and learning our system, so I think it helps. Basically just having as many games as possible is going to be beneficial for us."
For now, the Jumbos will concentrate on a number of aspects of their game as they await the Mules, including defense, the attacking phase and maintaining general fitness.
"We're just trying to work really hard and stay focused on doing what we can do and not worrying about what we can't do," Hardy said.
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