Men's soccer brings home 2nd NESCAC Championship title

The Tufts men’s soccer team brought home the 2019 NESCAC Championship title on Sunday after competing in Amherst, Mass., all weekend. The Jumbos defeated the Middlebury Panthers 2–1 on Sunday after shutting out the Williams Ephs 1–0 in overtime of Saturday’s semifinal contest. This victory marks the Jumbos’ second NESCAC title in program history, earning their first championship in 2017 over Middlebury as well. 

On Sunday, the Jumbos competed against the Middlebury Panthers for the NESCAC title. Sixth-seeded Middlebury upset first-seeded Amherst on Saturday to make it to the championship game. 

The first half of the contest saw no scoreboard action, despite strong efforts from the Jumbo attack. Tufts tallied three quality scoring opportunities before halftime. Senior midfielder Brett Rojas claimed the first, receiving a throw-in from sophomore defender Ian Daly and heading the ball toward the goal. However, Middlebury goalkeeper Ryan Grady was able to make the save. A few minutes later, junior defender/midfielder Calvin Aroh fired a shot from 25 yards out that went slightly higher than the goal. The strongest attempt came five minutes before the end of the half. Daly collected a pass on the left post and ripped a shot that nearly passed Grady. 

Tufts continued to dominate in the second half, taking their shot count into double digits with attempts from Rojas, senior midfielder Zach Lane and Daly. Tufts’ pressure finally paid off in the 58th minute. Senior midfielder/forward and co-captain Gavin Tasker chipped the ball forward to junior forward Max Jacobs, who sent a left-footer into the goal past Grady. This goal marked Jacobs’ fourth of the season. 

After multiple attempts, the Panthers scored the equalizer 79 minutes into play. Middlebury forward Max Drazen freed up space after bypassing the Jumbo defense and fired a shot that beat sophomore goalkeeper Erich Kindermann. The pressure was on as the clock started winding down, with both teams eager for the championship title. With just two minutes left, Aroh lofted the ball to the middle of the box, finding senior forward Joe Braun who chested the ball to his feet and volleyed a shot into the top left corner of the goal. With his fifth goal of the season, Braun scored the goal that claimed the NESCAC Championship for the Jumbos. 

Braun felt that his teammates worked well together in the Middlebury game.

"Everybody came together at the moment when we needed each other most," Braun said. "Top to bottom, start to finish, every guy played his part. For 90 minutes we played pure Tufts men's soccer. This is the best part of the season right now, and I think we're playing the best I've seen all season. We're excited to keep it up moving into NCAA's."

Tufts outshot Middlebury 20–9 in this high-intensity championship game. 

The second-seeded Tufts team played an aggressive first game against Williams, coming out on top with their ninth shutout victory of the season. Both teams tallied 13 shots, and Kindermann made an impressive six saves for the Jumbos. 

Coach Josh Shapiro spoke about the Williams game, stressing the difficulties the Ephs presented.

"I thought the Williams game was a very hard game to kind of get on top of and get control with," Shapiro said. "It felt like we went back and forth, though ultimately our depth was really key and we were able to kind of gain a little bit more of territorial advantage and maybe create a few more quality chances."

The Ephs earned the first real scoring opportunity of the first half. Williams' Demian Gass beat Tufts defenders and fired a shot to the bottom left of goal, but Kindermann was able to make the save. Five minutes into the contest, the Ephs earned the first corner kick of the game, but the Jumbo backline successfully cleared the ball away. Kindermann made another save in the 10th minute after forward Will Felitto took a shot. 

Rojas spoke about the dangerous stance Gass presented on the field.

"Demian Gass is a dangerous player, definitely one of the best in the NESCAC," Rojas said. "We knew that moving into our game against Williams earlier in the season. He’s a great player and it made for a competitive game.”

Tufts earned a strong scoring opportunity off of their first corner. Rojas took the kick, finding Aroh who headed the ball just above the crossbar. Both teams had one more strong corner opportunity in the first half. The Ephs’ kick was received by Jules Oberg and sent into the box, but Kindermann made the save. In the 24th minute, sophomore midfielder Zach Seigelstein took a corner kick for the Jumbos. The ball found Braun in the middle of the box. Bruan headed it towards the goal, but Eph goalkeeper Michael Davis made the save. 

The last scoring attempt of the half came from Gass as the clock wound down. Gass beat the Tufts defense line and fired a shot right at Kindermann. 

After a scoreless first half, the Jumbos picked up tempo moving into the second half. Rojas and Tasker had early shots in the opening minutes. Williams responded with a shot on goal from Chris Fleischer, which Kindermann saved. The contest continued to move back and forth for the remainder of regulation, with neither team able to capitalize on a scoring opportunity. 

Just under two minutes into overtime play, Lane scored the game-winning goal for the Jumbos off a free kick by junior midfielder Travis Van Brewer, winning the game 1–0. Shapiro spoke about the goal, praising Van Brewer's dynamic free-kick skills to put Tufts into a good scoring situation.

"Ultimately it comes down to a really good execution set piece situation and Travis Van Brewer, who’s one of the best free-kick deliverers in the country," Shapiro said. "He put us with a brilliant ball to take advantage."

Coming out of the Middlebury victory, Tufts now has an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament. Tufts will be competing against Maritime on Saturday, Nov. 16 on Bello Field for the first round of the tournament. 

Going into the NCAA tournament, Shapiro spoke about what makes this team special.

"This is a fun group — I think they’ve felt a fair amount of pressure at times in the season to kind of live up to their own expectations," Shapiro said. "But I think we’ve achieved a lot already and now we’ve got to play free and fun and just enjoy the opportunity to work together towards something great."