Women's Lacrosse | Tufts outlasts Conn. College in big NESCAC showdown

    The women's lacrosse team came into Sunday's tilt with Conn. College looking to avenge a loss to the Camels from last season. And while the nationally ranked No. 6 Jumbos eventually got it done, extending their winning streak to eight games with a 16-13 victory in New London, Conn., the Camels put up a protest to keep things interesting.
    "We were unprepared mentally for [last year's] game," senior Courtney Thomas said. "I feel from watching the game film this week that all of us were focused on the ultimate goal, and thus we did not make the same mistakes."
    As the fourth quarter wound down and the Jumbos looked to pull away, freshman Lara Kozin scored to extend the Jumbo lead to 16-9, the widest deficit of the contest, with 3:05 left. After Kozin's score, however, the Jumbos loosed up the reins on their opponents. The Camels rallied late into the final minutes of the game, scoring four times in the closing 2:28, with two tallies coming off of free-position shots from junior Sara Christopher and freshman Ashley Crutchfield.
    With 54.9 seconds left to go, Christopher fed another Crutchfield goal, followed by a senior Paige Pascarelli score with 27 seconds remaining. But the Jumbos managed to halt the surging Camels after that, freezing the score at its final mark of 16-13 in Tufts' favor.
    Despite surges by the Jumbo offense, Conn. College stayed within striking distance to open the game. Early on, Tufts' leading goal scorer, junior Emily Johnson, expanded on a one-goal lead as she rocketed a shot past rookie Camels goalie Ashleigh Kowtonuik off of a quick feed from senior Maya Shoham, making the advantage 4-2 with 17:47 remaining in the first half. But with 14:29 left on the clock, Christopher assisted freshman Hope Barone from behind the cage to shrink the lead once again, nudging the Camels to within one at 4-3.
    The Jumbos then quashed the Camels' rising hopes, however, with a 5-0 goal spree with 7:07 remaining in the half. Johnson netted three goals during the stretch, leading her team into halftime with a 9-3 lead.
    "There was a lot of pressure on a game like Sunday's," Johnson said. "[But] it has been fairly evident all year that we are capable of working as a solid unit and will only continue to do so."
    The second half of play was not nearly as dominant for Tufts. Nevertheless, despite the Jumbos being outscored 10-7 in the frame, their first-half success was enough to carry them through to their seventh NESCAC victory of the season.
    Johnson buried six goals to lead her team to the win, while Thomas had three goals and one assist with Kozin netting two of her own and assisting on two others in the second half.
    In last year's contest, the Camels bested the Jumbos by a score of 14-7, the loss in part due to exceptional play in goal by the opposing keeper. But in this year's matchup, the Jumbos focused on and were rewarded by high quality shot selection, continuing to validate their spot as the top team in the conference in shot percentage.
    Conn. College was led by Pascarelli with three goals during the game. Freshman Ali McPherson chipped in three second-half goals, and Christopher ripped a team-high five points with four assists and a goal.
    Last week's NESCAC Player of the Week, sophomore goalkeeper Sara Bloom, ended with 14 saves to do her part in earning the victory for Tufts. Kowtoniuk made seven saves in her first half of play, but the Camels switched up the goaltending in the second half, putting junior Jenna Ross between the pipes, where she made five stops.
    Tufts, 7-1 in the NESCAC, hosts the Bowdoin Polar Bears — 2-5 in NESCAC play — on Friday in the regular-season finale, and Tufts will need to defeat Bowdoin to clinch its first-ever No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.