Women's Soccer | After Keene State, Jumbos prep for Amherst showdown

    After a crushing overtime loss to Middlebury last Saturday, the Tufts women's soccer team had to compose itself quickly as Keene State came to Medford on Tuesday afternoon. But with a 2-0 victory in that game, it is clear that the Jumbos have righted the ship before heading into another key conference battle.
    The weekend should bring a tougher test for Tufts as Amherst, ranked No. 2 nationally in Div. III, comes to Kraft Field tomorrow afternoon.
    "We really want to come out on top of the NESCACs and playing Amherst is a great test to see how well prepared we are," senior co-captain forward Cara Cadigan said.
    But before this Saturday's contest with the Lord Jeffs, Tufts had business to settle with Keene State, which beat the Jumbos 5-4 last year. Defense was the key in Tuesday's game against the Owls, as Tufts was able to shut down a Keene State offense that had scored 20 goals in its first five games.
    "Our defense really tightened up and played really well, especially compared with the Middlebury game," junior midfielder Geneva DeGregorio said.
    After heading into halftime tied at zero, Tufts dominated play in the second half before finally breaking through with Cadigan's first goal of the season in the 81st minute. Six minutes later, senior forward Ali Maxwell iced the game with a bending ball placed beautifully on the back post. For Cadigan, it was a much-anticipated return to the scorer's book after an injury-plagued season last year.
    "It was a great feeling," Cadigan said. "It's good to know that I can still score. And it was great to get a win after coming off such a tough loss."
    In Tuesday's game, the box score did not do justice to the Jumbos' level of play on the field. Tufts dominated the field, keeping possession of the ball and appearing more comfortable to go forward than its opponents. Keene, on the other hand, failed to find a rhythm offensively and was outshot by Tufts 21-3. The Owls' offensive struggles can largely be credited to the excellent work of the Jumbos' backline.
    "A big thing was that we outshot them 21-3," Cadigan said. "While we didn't get too many shots against Middlebury, we were really able to get the ball down the field in this game and get shots off."
    With Keene State now in the rearview mirror, Tufts has its sights set on this weekend's matchup with rival Amherst. The Lord Jeffs, as always, field a strong team that expects to compete not only for a NESCAC title, but also in the NCAA tournament.
    Amherst returns most of its offensive firepower from a year ago, led by reigning NESCAC Player of the Year senior tri-captain forward Meg Murphy, who scored 13 goals last year and has been First-Team All-NESCAC for all three years of her career at Amherst. Both Amherst forwards, juniors Kyla Woodhouse and Jackie Hirsch, are talented and dangerous, each with the ability to set up shots for themselves and for teammates.   
"What makes Amherst good is that they're really solid at every position, they have a deep bench and they always come ready to play," DeGregorio said.
    While Amherst has three new starters on defense, the team was impressive in its only match so far this season, which ended with a 3-0 victory over Bowdoin last Saturday. Cadigan believes the key to the game will be attacking Amherst's backline.
    "It'll be a really tough game, but we should pull through if we generate enough offense against them because we didn't really test their defense last year," Cadigan said.
    The Jumbos believe they can match Amherst at every position and are anxious for the chance to prove it, especially in front of what is expected to be a raucous crowd for Tufts' first NESCAC home game.
    "It's going to be really intense. Our goal is to go undefeated on Kraft and we hope to do so," Cadigan said.
    Tufts will try to replicate the results of Amherst's last visit to Medford, when the Jumbos, behind a Cadigan goal and a stout defense, took down the Lord Jeffs 1-0.
    "It's simply a matter of playing our game and not letting them dictate how the game will be played," DeGregorio said. "We always come ready to play Amherst, but we can't treat them any differently."