Oct. 10 | Football wins Homecoming thriller over Bowdoin. With one deft swing of his left leg, sophomore kicker Adam Auerbach delivered the game-winning field goal in overtime, sending the Jumbos to a dramatic 25-22 victory over NESCAC rival Bowdoin on Homecoming.
Auerbach, who kicked a 37-yard field goal with 27 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to send the contest into overtime, calmly booted the 35-yarder, setting off a raucous celebration on the Tufts sideline. For his efforts, Auerbach was named the NESCAC Special Teams Player of the Week.
The sophomore's heroics were set up after a stingy Jumbos defense held the Polar Bears to a missed field goal on Bowdoin's first overtime possession and limited quarterback Oliver Kell to just 219 yards through the air. Tufts' defensive unit totaled three sacks and was guided by senior quad-captain Tom Tassinari, who had a game-high 12 tackles.
Collectively, Tufts accumulated 266 yards on the ground, led by junior Pat Bailey's 141. Senior quarterback Tom McManama had one of his best outings, hurling for two crucial touchdowns down the stretch.
The Homecoming victory was the highlight of an otherwise bleak season for the Jumbos, who finished 2-6 overall, ending the year with five straight losses. But thanks to Auerbach and Tufts' defense, the Oct. 10 win over Bowdoin was an afternoon to remember.
Oct. 17 | Browne and McCooey go back-to-back. Julia Browne and Meghan McCooey had only played together as a doubles duo for less than one month when they went to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Small College Championships a year ago. Despite their relative inexperience, Browne and McCooey blitzed through the tournament field and captured the first national title of any kind in program history.
This year, with the weight of being the defending champions, they did it again.
Seeded second in the field of the top eight doubles teams in the nation, Browne and McCooey were virtually unchallenged en route to their second consecutive ITA crown, beating the TCNJ pairing of Jackie Shtemberg and Felice Trinh in the final 7-5, 6-3. In the process, the Jumbos' duo became just the second repeat champions in the history of the tournament.
The victory ended a tremendous fall campaign for Browne and McCooey, who also added an ITA New England region title to their extensive résumé on Sept. 20. With the 2010 spring schedule still ahead, the duo boasts a lifetime mark of 35-6 in dual-match and tournament play.
Nov. 8 | Field hockey wins first NESCAC title. On Oct. 17, the field hockey team took a perfect record into a Parents' Day showdown against Trinity and came away with a deflating overtime loss, its first regular-season defeat in over two calendar years. But as many could have predicted, the two teams that separated themselves from the rest of the conference pack this season met again in the NESCAC title game on Nov. 8 in Hartford, Conn.
Tufts didn't miss out on its chance at redemption.
Behind two penalty-corner goals by junior defender Jess Perkins, the Jumbos exacted revenge on the Bantams, capturing their first-ever NESCAC crown with a 3-2 victory on Trinity's home field. With the win, coach Tina McDavitt's squad became the first Tufts fall-season team to win its conference championship since men's cross country in 2005.
Against First Team All-American goalkeeper Gina Dinallo, who had allowed just eight goals in her previous 13 games, the Jumbos managed three first-half tallies before staving off a Bantams comeback bid in the second half. They went on to reach the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
Nov. 14 | Volleyball clinches New England crown in new Cousens Gym. The New England Regional final was the perfect storm for the Tufts volleyball team. A chance at revenge against Williams -- which it lost to in the NESCAC Tournament final -- and a shot at getting to the NCAA Elite Eight were on the line Nov. 14 at Cousens Gym. The Jumbos accomplished both goals and moved onto the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in school history.
Tufts dominated in the win, winning the first two sets 25-13 and 25-16 before edging out the Ephs in a close third set 25-23. The Jumbos closed out the winning set thanks in large part to the play of Regional MVP junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive, who had four of her team-high 14 kills in the final set. New England Women's Volleyball Association Player of the Year senior Dena Feiger was also instrumental in the victory, finishing with 10 digs and 43 assists.
The New England regional title was the first championship celebrated in the newly renovated Cousens Gym. The facility received a major facelift over the summer, including a 90-degree rotation of the basketball court.
Nov. 21 | Faller and Wilfert run to All-American honors in cross country. Though the men's and women's cross country team each sent only one runner to the NCAA Div. III Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, those individuals certainly represented the Jumbos well.
With over 50 members of both teams out to cheer them on, senior Jesse Faller and junior Amy Wilfert both finished in the top 35 of the race, earning All-American status for the season. Faller became a three-time All-American thanks to his eighth-place showing. It was the best finish for a Tufts runner at the event since Rod Hemingway (LA '98) came in sixth place in 1997.
Wilfert earned the second All-American status of her career at Tufts after her time of 22:46.3 on the 6K course. She was also an All-American in indoor track last season as a part of the distance medley relay team that won the NCAA title in the event.
