After running off three consecutive regional victories, the women's rugby team was riding high entering its opening-round playoff matchup against Bryant University Sunday.
Unfortunately for the Jumbos, it was the Bulldogs who advanced to the second round of the postseason by staving off a late Tufts rally to escape with a 24-19 victory.
Down by a large margin with less than 10 minutes to go in the contest, the Jumbos were able to rattle off two quick tries, worth five points apiece, to pull within five points. Yet despite their best efforts to get one last touch in the try zone, the Jumbos' attempts proved futile.
Still, the squad came dangerously close to defeating a team that had yet to surrender one try all season, as Tufts tallied three against the Bulldogs in one day, further adding to the frustration of the loss.
"[Sunday's] game was a tough loss not just because it was the playoffs, but because we could have won it," coach Kara Yimoyines said in an e-mail to the Daily. "With 10 minutes remaining in the game, we scored two tries, coming close to tying it up. We had a brief letup at the start of the second half when Bryant scored most of [its] points, but otherwise we played a solid 80 minutes."
Prior to its playoff game this weekend, the team posted back-to-back-to-back wins over local rivals Plymouth State, Wentworth and Roger Williams. With the Jumbos well aware of their strengths and what it would take to put together another victorious effort on Sunday, they were poised to attack the Bulldogs and exploit their weaknesses.
"Coming into the game, we were on a three-win run, so our confidence level was high and we knew what we could do to win this game," senior tri-captain Aliza Sandberg said. "We were focused on keeping possession and retaining the ball. That was our big goal going in, and we did that very well."
"The key in the Bryant game was to keep it away from their forwards and attack their back line," Yimoyines added. "We had a hard time defending their mauls, but because they lacked strength in the back line, we could attack their fullback and wings with success."
But Bryant presented a slightly different challenge than the Jumbos were expecting: The Bulldogs' game plan was centered on individual performances, which challenged Tufts to adjust on the fly and possibly made the difference on Sunday.
"They played a slightly different type of game than [we do]," Sandberg said. "We're a very cohesive team, so we don't necessarily have a star player. We just work together to get scores however possible. Bryant focuses more on the individual players, which took some time to adjust to, while we are a much more focused on the group effort."
Nevertheless, team members point to their focus on the team as a whole as the reason for their successes this season and not their shortcomings.
"Rugby is a sport where it's tough to identify individuals," Yimoyines said. "It honestly takes a whole team to make it work. We had everyone from senior veterans to rookie freshmen on the pitch, and they all performed well. I couldn't be more proud of them."
Entering the the fall season, the team found itself with few veterans in the lineup, but thanks to an infusion of youth from this fall's freshman class, the Jumbo roster was in solid shape. The squad's depth paid huge dividends on the practice field, where Tufts was able to use the extra bodies to work on certain drills and more effectively prepare for games.
"The biggest thing from last year was that we managed to recruit 30 or so new players to our team this fall," Sandberg said. "That was great for the team because it allowed us to take our practices to a whole new level. With the extra depth we were able to better simulate game situations and better prepare for our games."
"As far as the size of the team goes, sometimes that happens," Yimoyines added. "Over the course of 14 years, I've seen the team go from 20 players to 50 and back down again to 20."
Moving forward, Tufts hopes to maintain its numbers and build on the this year's success.
"We hope to retain our numbers after this season and have another solid recruiting effort next fall," Yimoyines said. "We hope to return to the Final Four in our division as we did last year. We should be able to bring home the trophy."
