Tufts men’s soccer remains undefeated after a 3–0 victory over Trinity on Saturday and a 0–0 double overtime draw against Middlebury on Sunday. The Jumbos moved to 9–0–2 for the season and 5–0–2 in conference play.
In a back-and-forth physical battle, Sunday’s matchup between Tufts and Middlebury ended in a 0–0 draw after 110 minutes of play. Despite some significant scoring opportunities for both sides, neither team could crack through in regular time nor in the two overtime periods.
The game was extremely rough, with 28 fouls committed in total. Six total cards were given out, with Middlebury’s Raffi Barsamian receiving a red card before being removed from the contest in the 60th minute.
First-year goalkeeper Erik Lauta made two more saves in yet another clean sheet — his eighth in 11 games.
“I think [the clean sheets] accurately display the strength of our defensive ability both as individuals and as a collective unit,” Lauta said. “Everyone in our defensive unit has played superbly this season and this last weekend is a great example of what we’re capable of.”
The Jumbos put up three shots in the two 10-minute overtime periods, while holding Middlebury to none. Only three of Middlebury’s shots were on target all game.
Tufts Defenders senior Ian Daly, sophomore Gibson Campbell, super senior Biagio Paoletta and super senior midfielder Calvin Aroh played all 110 minutes on Sunday.
Fortunes were better for the Jumbos on Saturday, as they won 3–0 over the Trinity Bantams thanks to a second half scoring outburst. After a scoreless first half, Tufts scored three times in five minutes to take the victory over Trinity.
“Honestly, we were a little complacent going into the game on Saturday,” sophomore forward Mikey Brady said. “In the first half … Trinity proved how much of a mistake our complacency actually was.”
After a quiet first half,the Tufts attacking unit turned up the intensity in the second half. Graduate student midfielder Travis Van Brewer and Daly helped carry the Jumbos to victory.
Van Brewer opened the scoring spree in the 71st minute after a pass from Daly. Just four minutes later, Daly scored an unassisted goal of his own. Less than a minute after Daly’s goal, Van Brewer assisted a goal by Brady.
“At half time, [head coach Kyle Dezotell] and our seniors emphasized … how we could not take any games lightly,” Brady said. “The rest of the game was not perfect by any means, but we were able to put a couple goals away and fortunately came away with the win.”
This rapid offensive outburst helped the Jumbos secure a comfortable victory over the Bantams in Hartford, Conn. Even after the draw with Middlebury, Tufts remains second in the NESCAC standings, looking to defend its spot against perennial rival Amherst on Oct. 16 in Medford, Mass. Amherst sits right below Tufts with a record of 5–1–1.
“We need to treat each [game] like a win-or-go-home type of game, because eventually our season will reach a point where if we lose, we will be done,” Brady said. “As a team, we need to … play up to the standard that we know we can both in practice and on game days.”
