The women's soccer team is arguably one of the most established and successful programs at Tufts: The team has posted 13 consecutive winning seasons and has only two losing records to show for 29 years of competition, it has made the NESCAC tournament for eight straight years and has drawn five invitations to compete at NCAAs and it is coming off a 13-3-2 season in which it has competed in both the NESCAC Championship game and the NCAA Tournament (and was defeated in both by penalty kicks).
And yet, with its history of excellence, this will nevertheless be a trying year for coach Martha Whiting and her Jumbos. While the tradition of success is inherent to the Tufts name, the roster will be very different.
Not only did the team graduate seven starting seniors — something that would severely damage any program — but those seniors were part of arguably the most successful and prolific class in Tufts' history. The group's accomplishments included over 40 wins in four years, a .750 winning percentage against conference opponents and two trips to the NCAA tournament, highlighted by a run to the final four in 2005.
"They were very impressive, especially in the NESCAC," Whiting said. "Over the course of four years, this could've been the most successful group that we've had in terms of wins and losses."
"They were the center of the team for the past few years," junior tri-captain Cara Cadigan said. "We'll definitely need to work hard to fill a lot of their positions."
The group featured forward Lauren Fedore (LA '08), midfielders Rebecca Abbott (E '08) and Martha Furtek (LA '08) and defenders Annie Benedict (LA '08), Julia Brown (LA '08), Joelle Emery (LA '08) and Jessie Wagner (LA '08).
Furtek and Benedict made an impact early on in their careers, garnering All-NESCAC second-team honors. The next year, Wagner and Brown transferred to Tufts, while Furtek improved to All-NESCAC first team status and Emery emerged as All-NESCAC second team. That was the year that the team made its NCAA run, coming back against regional juggernaut Wheaton in the Sweet Sixteen and clinching a penalty-kick victory over Oneonta State in the Elite Eight, all before falling to the College of New Jersey in the NCAA Final Four.
"They were a significant part of the team," Whiting said. "Most of them were on the field almost 90 minutes of every game. So you figure half the kids on the field at any one time were those girls.
"I think that's a really hard thing to do," she continued. "To advance that far in a sport where there are potentially 400 Div. III teams. The fact that they went that far was phenomenal."
Over four years at Tufts, Benedict earned three All-NESCAC second team selections, while Furtek earned three first-team nods and was named an All-American in 2007.
Now, in the wake of their graduation, Tufts is left with a clear and sizable void. The Jumbos will have to make up for that production from somewhere, which is part of the reason that there are eight freshmen on the squad this season.
"[The freshmen are] very versatile," junior tri-captain Whitney Hardy said. "Regionally, they come from all over the country. Their styles of play are all very different, which makes the team better because we're playing against different styles of play every day."
"The new class is one of the most talented that we've had in a while," Whiting said. "They could potentially rival last year's senior class, which is exciting. Still, they're inexperienced, and it'll take a while for them to get their feet wet."
That's why Tufts will be relying mostly on team veterans to pick up the slack, at least for this year.
"We have a returning group that is very experienced," Whiting said. "I think we're only starting one freshman at the outset, which is impressive considering how many seniors we graduated. I'm very excited about the group we have."
The biggest question mark for the Jumbos will be on defense where the team will be starting four new players. Freshman Cleo Hirsch, sophomores Audrey Almy, Carrie Wilson and Bailey Morgan, a transfer student who won Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference newcomer of the year for Rhodes College last season, will be crucial to the Jumbos' success this year.
"They need to get a game under their belt to get confidence," Whiting said. "But they're good players, good athletes, and they understand the game. I have extreme faith in them and know that the more they play together the better they'll get."
"They're learning to work together as a unit," junior goalkeeper Kate Minnehan said. "They just need to become more familiar with each other, and once they learn that they'll be successful."
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