With beautiful conditions at Kraft Field, a new coach at the helm and a renewed spirit among the players, the men's soccer team was optimistic that it would erase the memories of a disappointing 2009 season in Saturday's season−opening match against Middlebury College. And despite losing a 1−0 decision to the Panthers for the second straight year, the Jumbos remain confident that they are moving in the right direction.
"We were definitely excited to get out there for a home opener, especially against a great team like Middlebury," senior quad−captain Naji Muakkassa, who did not play against the Panthers due to a season−ending ACL injury, said. "I thought we played very well, considering that Middlebury is one of the best teams in our conference."
The Jumbos (0−1−0) struggled to keep up with the Panthers (1−0−0) early on in the game as Middlebury's persistence yielded the only goal of the match in the 35th minute of play. Middlebury junior forward Tyler Macnee took advantage of a good feed from classmate Robbie Redmond on a free kick, heading it over junior goalkeeper Alan Bernstein.
Bernstein, who was making his second career start, made five saves in the contest. He was pleased with the team's work in the backfield but expects the Jumbos to work on their counter−attacking skills for future contests.
"I thought we were very organized defensively and played solid there, and we were pretty unlucky to give up the goal when we did," Bernstein said. "We need to work on our shape as a team and playing better in transition when we have a chance to attack."
If Saturday's game was any indication, the Jumbos will be much more threatening offensively this season. Last season, Tufts did not manage a single shot on goal against Middlebury. On Saturday, however, the Jumbos had five. Middlebury junior goalie Tim Cahill was up to the task, though, earning his seventh career shutout.
"Middlebury really plays to win 1−0 games," Muakkassa said. "They do that very well, and they have one of the best — if not the best — defenses in the conference. We had our chances but just weren't able to put the ball in the back of the net."
The Jumbos came away impressed with first−year coach Josh Shapiro, who offered positive advice and proved that he is ready to take Tufts soccer to the next level.
"Coach Shapiro is great — he's active on the sidelines and engages the guys on the bench very well," Muakkassa said. "He gave a great halftime speech and we really have no complaints about him."
The Jumbos are confident that there are better things to come in the near future. They will travel to Beverly, Mass., to take on Endicott on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. — a winnable game, according to the team.
"We're not going to take Endicott lightly," Bernstein said. "They're a team that we should beat and we're going to look to get after them hard."
Tufts' next NESCAC match will come on Saturday at Amherst, with the kickoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The Lord Jeffs (0−0−1) played to a scoreless draw with Bowdoin in their conference opener on Saturday.
"Amherst is always a tough team and that'll be another opportunity for us to challenge ourselves," Muakkassa said. "It's a game we know we can win and we're confident that the goals will come."
"We expect to play Amherst very tough," Bernstein added. "But that's how we approach every game — we know we're playing tough teams, but at the same time, we know we can beat them."
The Jumbos showed during the second half of Saturday's game that they can play at the same level as the elite teams in their conference. In the coming weeks, they'll look to prove that they have what it takes to finish the job.
