The women's lacrosse team lost four conference games during the regular season, each decided by a single goal. But in yesterday's NESCAC Quarterfinal against Middlebury, in a nail-biter with the season on the line, Tufts came out on top.
After losses to Middlebury and Bowdoin to finish the regular season, the Jumbos slipped to 5-4 in the league and into the lower half of the tournament bracket, losing home-field advantage. Yet No. 5 seed Tufts was unfazed on the road at Middlebury, knocking the Panthers out of the playoffs with a 13-12 victory.
"Everyone on the field fought for every last ball, tried to be as smart as possible and I think that's what it came down to — just everyone working together," junior attackman Steph Perez said. "We haven't played this well all season, and it was awesome."
When the Jumbos played Middlebury on April 23, the team wasn't in sync, and it resulted in a 10-9 loss.
"The last time we played them our attack really struggled," Perez said. "For some reason, we weren't passing as well as we normally do, because we're a very good interior passing team, and we've just been really off lately. It's not anything skill-wise, it's just we had to prove to ourselves that we could really do this."
After yesterday's win, such doubts are fading away. The two sides matched each other goal for goal for much of the afternoon, but a pair of three-goal surges from the Jumbos in the second half made all the difference. Panthers junior attackman Elizabeth Garry scored the game's lone free-position goal with 24:35 remaining to give Middlebury an 8-7 lead, but in the next eight minutes, Tufts' offense found the net three times.
Junior attackman Lara Kozin led the way, assisting classmate Kelly Hyland at the 23-minute mark, then finding sophomore Kerry Eaton, who gave the Jumbos the lead. Then, with 17:45 to go, freshman Gabby Horner scored unassisted to make the score 10-8.
The Panthers came right back to tie it at 10 on goals from senior co-captain attackman Chase Delano and junior attackman Stephanie Gill. But the Jumbos proceeded to play 10 minutes of mistake-free lacrosse, silencing the Panthers' offense while scoring three more times: Horner at the 11:30 mark, Kozin at 7:45 and Horner again with 3:29 on the clock, giving Tufts a 13-10 advantage.
The Panthers, unsurprisingly, had one last run in them, pulling within two before another goal by Gill made it 13-12 with 29 seconds left. Yet Tufts was able to hold Middlebury scoreless for the final seconds, and earned its first NESCAC Tournament victory since 2009.
The game featured eight ties but only two lead changes, as the Jumbos were in control for most of the way.
"The score was really close, but on and off the field everyone could tell that we wanted it more," Perez said. "We were the better team, and we showed them that we were the better team."
Hyland, Horner and junior midfielder Casey Egan scored three goals apiece, Eaton had two goals and an assist and Kozin added three assists to her conference-leading total. Middlebury senior co-captain Sally Ryan, who is listed as a midfielder but is the NESCAC goals leader, made an excellent showing in defeat, scoring four times and racking up three assists. Gill added three goals as the Panthers finished the year 10-5 overall.
The ground-ball battle was even at 12 apiece, and the Jumbos outperformed the Panthers in draw controls, 16-11. Middlebury also outshot Tufts, 29-22, but senior tri-captain Sara Bloom came up with 10 huge saves in the win.
"I think I've come a long way since the beginning of the season," Bloom said. "I was struggling quite a bit, and it can only be better from here."
Tufts is now the lowest seed remaining in the tournament, meaning next up on Saturday is undefeated Trinity, which handled Williams yesterday, 15-6. The Bantams, however, are by no means unbeatable — their wins over Tufts, Amherst, Middlebury and Bowdoin were all by one-goal margins. And, like they did against Middlebury, the Jumbos feel they are ready to turn the tides.
"We're nervous, but of course we're excited as well because we just proved that we could beat Middlebury, who we had lost to by one as well," Bloom said. "We only lost to Trinity by one, and it says a lot to only lose by one to a team that's undefeated. We can come out on top."
