The women's lacrosse team had what would favorably be described as an up-and-down start to the season — after a 14-13 opening day win against Amherst, the squad lost its next two games, including a bitter 11-10 defeat by the Colby Mules. But the Jumbos seem to have forgotten their early struggles and have rattled off four straight wins, including Saturday's 19-9 blowout victory against Wesleyan.
The result leaves Tufts tied in wins with conference leader Trinity and also represents the highest-scoring game of the season for the Jumbos, whose mark of 19 is also the highest number of goals scored by any NESCAC team in a conference game this season.
Tufts has managed to reach double digits in every game this season, a feat made even more impressive by the fact that the team was held to single digits in four different conference games last year. The offensive explosion has been spearheaded by a pair of juniors, attackman Lara Kozin and midfielder Casey Egan, who are tied for the team lead with 15 goals apiece.
"We don't just shoot it to shoot it, and that's the key," sophomore attackman Kerry Eaton said. "We work really hard on the offensive end, stay patient and make sure we get the best opportunities to score."
Despite the seemingly lopsided score in the Wesleyan game, the game was actually quite close until the last few minutes, with Tufts taking just a 12-8 lead into the halftime break. The turning point of the contest came in the second half, as the Jumbos slammed home the first five goals after the break and shut down the Cardinals' offense to take a commanding 17-8 lead and effectively end all hope for a Wesleyan comeback.
"In the second [half] we knew that they were going to come out strong, so we were really pumped up and excited to play better," said Eaton, who finished with four goals and one assist in the game. "We knew we had to put them away, and fortunately our offense and defense really started to gel."
Unlike some Div. III rosters, which are dominated by one or two star attacking players, Tufts' is marked by scoring balance. Four Tufts players scored three or more goals in the match against Wesleyan. The team now has six players on its roster with 10 or more goals, which is the main reason for the squad's conference-leading total of 68 goals in NESCAC play.
"The past few games, the key has been patience and waiting for the opportunities to come," freshman attackman Gabby Horner said. "It's about waiting for the right cut, possessing the ball, and then making the most of the scoring chances."
The victory over Wesleyan leaves Tufts at 4-1 in the conference, with their only loss coming from Colby on March 18. The team has already played the majority of its NESCAC schedule, meaning that the April 9 home matchup with first-place Trinity, a team ranked No. 4 nationally, will likely decide who gets the No.1 seed for the conference tournament.
"We definitely can't overlook the Babson game [on April 5], because every game is important," Eaton said. "But we know the Trinity game is important. Last year we won on their home field, so we know they are going to come out strong, but we feel that we have the ability to beat them again."
"Beating Trinity would be a statement," Horner added. "Not only would it help us in the rankings, it would show to all the other teams in the NESCAC that we are the strongest in the league."
