Tufts men’s soccer arrived in Clinton, New York seeking their first road win at Hamilton in seven years. Further, the team was stepping onto Love Field following a six-hour bus ride in front of a raucous crowd celebrating Family Weekend. The Jumbos needed to be at their best.
“We knew going into the game that it was going to be an absolute battle,” graduate student defender and team captain Max Clivio wrote in an email to the Daily.
But instead of folding to the pressure, the No. 7 team in the country proved their national contender status with a dominant 4–1 win, putting them atop the NESCAC standings three weeks into the 2024 NESCAC season.
Sixty-six seconds into the game, there was an immediate sense that this trip to the Empire State was going to be different. Graduate student midfielder Liam Gerken scored a spectacular solo goal, his third of the season, setting a new career-best only six matches into the season. This goal filled the Jumbos with confidence to settle in defensively for the long haul. Indeed, despite the early breakthrough, the Jumbos found themselves on the backfoot throughout the entire first half, facing seven Hamilton shots, one of which required an outstretched glove from junior goalkeeper Nikola Antic.
Early on into the second half, forward Xavier Canfin, the hero from the Jumbos’ trip to Williamstown, stepped up again. After some sustained pressure from the midfield, the ball fell to Canfin’s feet in the box, and the sophomore made no mistake. He buried it to give the Jumbos a two-goal cushion only one minute and 43 seconds into the second half, deflating the hometown crowd.
From then on, all the Jumbos required was “trusting the plan our coaches had laid out for us,” Clivio wrote, which was for them to sit back and counterattack as the Continentals sought to level the score. The plan worked perfectly, leading to junior forward Henry Perkins scoring his first career brace. The first of his two goals came off of an inch-perfect pass from sophomore midfielder Bijan Akhtarzandi-Das, which put Perkins one-on-one against goalkeeper Finn Wheeler. With a gorgeous fake, Perkins cut back to his weaker left foot and finished at the near post to put the Jumbos up by three.
The fourth Jumbo goal was a product of some ingenious coaching and brilliant set play execution. Sophomore midfielder Ben Brown, who was used consistently toward the end of the 2023 season in late-game situations for his throw-in prowess, was brought in by head coach Kyle Dezotell to take a throw, with the Jumbos’ tallest targets lining up inside the 18-yard box. Dezotell emphasized one set piece that they had been working on at practice all week, according to Brown. Brown’s throw came through cleanly to Perkins’ head, and the junior capped off the Jumbos’ stellar offensive day with his second goal.
Hamilton responded with one of their own to bring some joy to their fans. After a penalty was conceded following an unfortunate bounce, junior goalkeeper Sammy Kao, who was brought in to relieve Nic Antic, was unable to stop a shot from Hamilton defender Ben LaBranche, which made it 4–1. Kao was able to stop the only shot he saw from live play, as he and Antic combined for six saves on a total of seven shots on goal.
From a broader perspective, the Jumbos’ resolute defense is becoming a bigger storyline. They have only conceded one goal from open play in their first six fixtures.
There is some uncertainty about where the Jumbos’ ranking may fall this week. As three of the six teams in front of them in the rankings dropped points, the Jumbos finished off a 2–0 week following their win over Salem State on Wednesday. This victory poses the possibility that Tufts could jump ahead. What is known is that the Jumbos return to action with a midweek tussle versus the Emerson College Lions this evening in Boston before returning to NESCAC to play Wesleyan on Saturday.
Clivio offered a candid assessment after the game.
“I think we executed perfectly. Henry Perkins had a huge individual performance finishing off his chances and the rest of the deal stepped up and got the job done,” Clivio wrote. “It’s never easy going on the road and getting 3 points in the NESCAC so this was definitely one of the most impressive away performances we’ve had since I’ve been at Tufts.”
In fewer words, for the first time in seven years, the team’s trip to Hamilton was a resounding success.
