Tufts women’s lacrosse returned to action last weekend with two conference matchups: one against Colby on Saturday and one against Williams on Sunday. The Jumbos finished the weekend with mixed results after losing to Colby 9–4 and defeating Williams 13–9 in their home opener at Bello Field. Tufts came into the season ranked No. 2 in Division III lacrosse but fell six spots after Saturday’s loss.
In the bout with Colby, Tufts struggled to find its offensive groove. About three minutes into the game, first-year midfielder Genna Gibbons scored the first Jumbo goal of the season, but the Mules quickly answered back in the same quarter and then scored again with about ten seconds left to put Colby up by one after the first quarter. Senior attacker Mae Briody managed to tie up the score in the second, but the Mules controlled the quarter by netting four goals in a row — two each from junior attacker Annie Eddy and first-year midfielder Julia Jardina. In an uneventful third quarter, senior midfielder Kathryn Delaney scored an unassisted goal for Tufts to bring the score within 3, and senior attacker Colette Smith blasted the ball into the net again to start the fourth. But the Jumbos fell short as Colby scored three more times to keep Tufts at bay. First-year attacker Margie Carden commented on what went wrong during the Colby game.
“We just didn't start out the way that we knew we could have. We like to play fast, and we didn't start to pick up the pace until the end of the game. And at that point, it was almost too late,” Carden said.
After such weighty expectations were placed on their shoulders in the preseason, losing their first game back left a sour taste in the mouths of the hungry Jumbos. Carden reiterated that leading up to the Williams game on Sunday, coaches and veteran players emphasized that the team needed to play loose and ignore any external pressures.
“We like to be loud, and we have a lot of big voices on our team. So I just think Saturday, we didn't really start out with that much energy. We played kind of scared,” Carden said.
The Jumbos played with that renewed energy as they tamed the Ephs 13–9. Tufts initially fell behind as Williams scored first, but the Jumbos took charge by scoring three straight goals — two coming from graduate student Claire Wright and one from Gibbons, who’s developing a knack for scoring early in games. The newest Jumbos played a significant role in this win as the three first-years who were run — Gibbons, Carden and midfielder Caroline Conaghan — accounted for seven goals. Carden, who scored four times, described the team’s depth and what the younger players learn and bring to these games.
“We all are, I would say, very serious competitors. So that’s always fun. And I think these next four years together, it’s only going to get better,” Carden said.
After going back and forth for the duration of the second quarter, Carden made a nice cut, running across the goal area with two minutes left on a sweet dish from Wright to give the Jumbos a two-goal cushion. From this point on, Tufts went on cruise control and held at least a three-goal lead for the remainder of the game, until the time ran out and the final score read 13–9 in favor of the Jumbos.
Carden explained how her goal to end the second quarter gave Tufts the momentum they needed to close out the game.
“So I think in that second quarter, especially towards the end, we had a big momentum shift and just kept the spark and let it take us to where we knew we could go,” Carden said.
Tufts plays Amherst on Saturday, March 12 in what’s expected to be a competitive conference match.
