Tufts recorded its first victory in three games as they beat the MIT Engineers 2-0 at the Henry G. Steinbrenner Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Goals from first-year midfielders Alex Aronson and Sarah Grubman in each half secured the victory for the Jumbos.
The Jumbos started the game with a high-intensity pressing strategy intended to get the ball back as soon as they could. It worked, and Tufts scored on their first serious attacking move in the final third. Sophomore midfielder Chandler Quintin launched a fiercely hit effort on goal from 25-yards out. The shot rebounded off the crossbar and landed kindly for Aronson as she beat the MIT defense to open the scoring for Tufts in the third minute.
After the first goal of the game, Tufts quickly settled, controlling the ball and pressing to set the tempo of the match. Another long shot, this time from Grubman, tested the MIT junior goalkeeper, Lauren Ullmann, who tipped it over the bar.
Tufts was able to play out of the back thanks to the composure of co-captain senior Nicole Campellone in central defence, but MIT fired a warning shot close to the end of the first half, as sophomore Olivia Struckman had a good opportunity in the 41st minute with a break away. The Jumbos first-year goalkeeper Emily Bowers was equal to the effort, however, getting a hand to the chipped shot before junior right back Stefanie Brunswick got it away for her team, allowing the Jumbos to go in 1-0 at the half.
The Jumbos' pressure resumed in the second half as they attacked down the two flanks, attempting to exploit the spaces left behind by the Engineers seeking the equalizer. In an attempt to mitigate the threat from MIT, junior Brooke Fortin was shifted to left back to deal with senior Morgan Moroi and Struckman’s runs, as the hosts started to grab a foothold in the center of the park during the second half.
Yet, the Tufts frontline continued to attack the MIT backline; junior Jess Capone’s impressive hold up play helped lead the attack as her team put cross after cross in. Tufts’ second goal eventually came after some unrelenting pressure down the right wing. From there, Fortin won the ball and swung the cross deep in her zone, finding Grubman, who finished from within the box to seal the game for the Jumbos.
“We used the wings and found the little triangles on the field to connect passes, and it helped us going forward," Fortin said. "I think [the win] was important going into an important NESCAC weekend. It gave us some confidence and it puts us in a great position to go forward.”
Campellone added that the win gave the Jumbos the momentum necessary to propel them into the upcoming NESCAC weekend.
“The mood was very fired up [after the victory], and the momentum we'll have going forward will be huge going into this weekend," Campellone said. "There were definitely signs of improvement [with our attacking play]. Again we have to work on our finishing. There were a couple of opportunities we missed, but I'm confident that this weekend [we will] be able to finish those.”
Coach Martha Whiting was pleased that the players had been applying skills from practice in their games.
“There were things that we were working on in practice yesterday, as far as what our forwards were going to do, how they were going to play, how we were combining on the flanks," Whiting said. "We did lots of what we talked about in practice, so that's really great for us to see when we put the concepts in pretty quickly. I'm very happy with the level of play, consistency and the result, but I don't think we're satisfied. We're definitely still better than this, and we're going to continue to work to improve...every time we step on the field.”
MIT coach Martin Desmarais agreed that the game against Tufts, while challenging, was a valuable experience for his team.
“Going into this game, I thought that we were going to be challenged physically, and athletically, and I think we didn't do a good enough job rising to that level of holding off players," Demarais said. "In the end, that resulted in at least one of the goals that happened today … Sometimes you get a disappointing result and it helps you step up. Either way this stuff will help us prepare for the Conference play [against Mount Holyoke].”
The Jumbos improve to 3-4 of the season, and have a big weekend ahead with road games at Amherst and Hamilton.
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