Tufts women’s soccer traveled to William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y. last weekend to compete in the NCAA Division III women’s soccer tournament. In last year’s tournament, Tufts made it to the quarterfinals. On Saturday, they played Rowan University, who had a 13–2–2 record going into the game, in the first round of the tournament. Tufts’ record stood at 13–3–1 prior to the game.
Coming off a loss to the Mammoths in the NESCAC semifinals, the Jumbos were eager to play together again. “The team was looking to make up for our loss against Amherst and to regain momentum to move through the tournament,” junior forward Elsi Aires wrote in an email to the Daily.
As is typical with the Jumbos, they started out strong and were getting shots off quickly and frequently in the first half. While the offense was putting significant pressure on the Profs, the defense was also working to keep the Profs’ opportunities at a minimum.
“Throughout the game against Rowan, they had several attacking players that were statistical threats, so our defense was very focused on denying them, which they did,” Aires wrote.
Although the game remained scoreless by the end of the first half, the Jumbos were confident that they had the momentum. At the 45-minute mark, the Jumbos were outshooting the Profs eight to one.
The second half had barely begun when Tufts finally made one of their shots count and took a 1–0 lead in the 47th minute. The goal was scored by Aires, who, after weaving her way through Rowan’s defense, powered a shot past the late-diving goalkeeper Calista Burke. Aires’ goal ended up being all that the Jumbos needed, and the second half finished with only one shot from the Profs the entire half. The Jumbos tallied up another six shots after Aires’ goal, but the score remained 1–0.
“You could tell everyone on our team wanted it more, from the energy on the field to the energy on our bench, everyone was united and joyful. Once we scored, in the final minutes of the game, our team was very focused on remaining composed and keeping the lead,” Aires wrote.
With its win against Rowan, Tufts moved on to the next round of the NCAA tournament and played host William Smith College on Sunday. William Smith College held a record of 13–3–4 prior to the game.
“We were looking to follow our survive and advance motto and gain momentum to keep us going through the tournament,” Aires wrote of the Jumbos’ mentality for the game.
The competitive game began with both teams getting shots off in the opening minutes of the game. After some back-and-forth play, the Herons opened up the scoring in the 25th minute with a goal by midfielder Kaleigh Darby. Midfielder Moira van der Putt got the assist.
Despite multiple shots from both teams in the rest of the first half, the Herons maintained their 1–0 lead going into halftime. Looking to turn the game around, the Jumbos stayed optimistic going into the second half.
“We tried focusing on remaining calm and playing our game, which became difficult as we went down. Our energy was very high as a team at halftime,” Aires wrote.
With their newfound high energy, the Jumbos were putting up shot after shot at the beginning of the second half. Still, they were unable to prevent another Herons goal in the 68th minute by forward Julia Bragg. Up to the goal, the Jumbos had been outshooting the Herons nine to two in the half.
The Jumbos came back from the Herons’ goal quickly and were able to put up one of their own in the 75th minute courtesy of sophomore midfielder Reese Birch off of a corner kick. Unfortunately, that was their only goal of the contest, and the game ended with the Jumbos falling to the Herons 2–1. Despite the loss, the Jumbos still outshot the Herons 20–10 and had nine shots on goal to their seven.
“Although we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities in the second half, we truly did give it our all and created many chances leaving it all out there,” Aires wrote.
William Smith will now move on to the quarterfinals and face Washington & Lee University on Saturday. The Jumbos’ season is now over, but they are already looking to prepare for next season.
“I am very appreciative of our seniors and all that they have given to our program over the years. For my grade, the sophomores, and freshmen, I know that we will work even harder in the offseason, and I already can’t wait to see all the great that we will do,” Aires wrote.
