Going into Saturday's matchup against the No. 4 Trinity, the women's lacrosse team expected that a battle between two evenly matched teams. One or two plays would likely make the difference.
Unfortunately for No. 12 Tufts, Trinity made those plays and rallied from a first−half deficit to head home with a 9−8 victory that put the Bantams on top of the NESCAC standings.
The game was close, with Tufts taking a 5−4 lead into the halftime break, thanks to a combination of tough defense and patient offense. But after junior midfielder Casey Egan scored to give the Jumbos a 6−4 advantage, the Bantams went on an unexpected run, scoring five unanswered goals to take a 9−6 lead. Despite two late goals from freshman attackman Gabby Horner, Tufts was unable to recover, and Trinity walked off Bello Field with a valuable victory.
"I think we played great, but lacrosse is a game of runs, and in the end the game was a tossup," coach Carol Rappoli said. "It was a game between two top teams, and we just couldn't put it together at the end."
Trinity held the slight advantage in several statistical categories, which helped push them to victory; the Bantams had 14 ground balls to the Jumbos' 12, while Tufts turned the ball over six more times than the visitors.
Trinity sophomore midfielder Megan Leonhard burned Tufts time and time again, scoring five goals to increase her team−leading total to 23 on the year. Trinity was also helped by the contribution of sophomore attackman Kaitlin Hildebrand, who scored twice.
The victory leaves the Bantams as the only undefeated team in conference play (6−0), as well as the only team in the NESCAC with an undefeated overall record (9−0).
"They're a really good, really tough team," Rappoli said. "But we played great during some parts of the game, especially the first half, and hopefully we'll get an opportunity to play them again in the tournament."
Rappoli's allusion to toughness was spot on: The game was dominated by fouls and resulting free−position opportunities. The teams combined for an unusually high nine free−position goals, and Tufts in particular was whistled for numerous infractions, especially in the second half.
"I thought we played hard for 60 minutes and kept up our intensity during the whole game," junior attackman Lara Kozin, who finished with two assists, said. "We came out hard and played that way the entire time."
The loss marks the end of the Jumbos' five−game winning streak, which saw three critical victories against NESCAC teams and a pair of dominant performances against non−league opponents.
"We played really well, but we just came up against a team that has been playing at a high level the whole season," said Kozin, who is tied with Egan for the team lead in points with 31. "If we play that way in every game we'll be successful."
The defeat leaves Tufts tied for third in the NESCAC with a 4−2 conference record, a mark the team shares with Bates and Colby. Middlebury (4−1) now temporarily occupies the second−place position, but the Panthers have played one fewer conference game than the squads tied for third, leaving the race for the second seed in the NESCAC tournament wide open.
Tufts has three more games against NESCAC teams, hitting the road for a match with Conn. College (3−7 overall, 0−6 NESCAC) before closing the season with a pair of difficult home games against Middlebury and Bowdoin. The squad returns to action tomorrow, hosting Bridgewater State at 5 p.m.
