Women's lacrosse continues to duke it out in nation's toughest conference

Tufts women's lacrosse team remained competitive in the NESCAC, Div. III's toughest conference, despite the program's relatively young and inexperienced roster. The Jumbos posted at 9-7 record on the season, going 5-5 against NESCAC opponents to finish tied for sixth in the conference before falling to No. 2-seeded Middlebury 14-10 in the NESCAC quarterfinals.

"[The season] really went by quickly," graduating senior tri-captain Caroline Ross said. "We had so many games and there were really a lot of ups and downs all season. We had great moments and games that we wish went the other way. A lot of one goal games. It was a very emotional season, but it was a fun season."

Scoring the first two goals against No. 6 Middlebury boded well for Tufts in its NESCAC quarterfinals. Tufts clung to a slight lead for most of the first 25 minutes, but Middlebury tied the game at 4-4 with just under four minutes remaining in the first half and pulled away to take a 7-4 lead at halftime. Middlebury grew its lead in the second half, but Tufts never quit playing and whittled the score to a final 14-10.

The quarterfinals loss marked a step back from last season when the team was able to make the NESCAC semifinals. But for the first-years on the team, their first NESCAC playoff game was a valuable learning experience.

"Our three captains had a huge job in taking on 13 freshmen and I don’t think it could have gone any better," rising sophomore Dakota Adamec said. "They welcomed all of us with open arms."

Coach Courtney Farrell front-loaded Tufts' schedule with home games against opponents from outside the NESCAC to allow her 13 rising sophomores a few games to acclimate to the collegiate level of competition. In the first game of the season, Tufts dominated Castleton 23-5 with graduating senior tri-captains Brigid Bowser and Ross leading the way offensively as they would all season, with six and five goals, respectively.

"I think that exposure to those good teams really helped us later in the season with all the NESCAC opponents," Ross said.

Tufts then beat MIT 13-9 on Bello Field in the first-ever meeting between the two teams. But in Tufts' first NESCAC meeting, Middlebury blindsided Tufts, opening up a six to zero lead in the game's first 13 minutes. Despite Ross' five goals, Tufts was unable to regain ground and fell 17-9 — a rude welcome to the NESCAC for the team's rookies.

Unable to rebound from its first loss of the season, Tufts fell 18-10 to Cortland State and then to Colby in a 13-8 loss, falling 0-2 against NESCAC opponents.

The team broke its slump in an 11-10 win over Stevenson before a matchup with Trinity at home on March 26. Coming into the game, the Jumbos were desperate to win in the NESCAC and hoped to avenge last year's overtime loss to the Trinity Bantams in the NESCAC semifinals. The game saw numerous lead changes, but Ross scored to put the Jumbos up 10-9 with just 13 seconds remaining. She earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career for her late-game heroics and a two goal, four assist performance.

Unable to build momentum three days after defeating the Williams Ephs, the Jumbos fell 13-12 to the Hamilton Continentals, then suffered another one-point heartbreak against Amherst on April 16, losing 7-6. The Jumbos led in both games at halftime but gave up strong second-half runs to their opponents.

With a 2-5 record against NESCAC opponents, Tufts needed to win two of its three remaining games in order to advance to the playoffs. Tufts' last home game of the season saw them eking out a tough 6-5 win over Bates, with the go-ahead goal from rising junior Caroline Nowak in the last 10 seconds.

In yet another tight contest, Tufts defeated Wesleyan 13-10. Adamec played the hero, scoring three of her five goals in the last five minutes of the second half to effectively end the game and earn NESCAC Player of the Week honors for the first time.

"The team definitely learned from the one-point battles that every NESCAC game is going to be difficult and that we always have to push it during the game, and we can’t leave it to the last five minutes to really rev up our energy," Adamec said.

In the April 27 regular season finale, Bowser led Tufts to a 17-8 victory over Bowdoin with five goals, while both Ross and rising junior Taylor Meek added three.The Jumbos jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back, bringing their NESCAC record to 5-5 and earning them the seventh seed for the conference tournament.

Despite being ranked 16th in the nation at the season's end, the team did not earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. 

"We are definitely better than what our record says," Adamec said. "We like to be at least breaking even because breaking even means that you don’t get a good seed, and it’s only an uphill battle. We aren’t a breaking even team — we are one that is a lot better than that."

Although the team loses some of its biggest offensive weapons this year in Ross, the program's leading scorer of the last four years, and in Bowser, the younger players now have more experience and seem poised to drive the team higher next spring.