In a game that the women's soccer team controlled for nearly the full 90 minutes, senior co-captain Lauren O'Connor lifted the Jumbos up-and-over the visiting Wesleyan Cardinals with a goal early in the second half, giving Tufts its first outright NESCAC victory and lifting the team to a 2-0-1 overall record.
The Jumbos, fresh off a 2-0 defeat of Keene State at home on Wednesday, fed off a large crowd and their early season momentum to dominate possession and create scoring chances throughout Saturday afternoon's contest.
In the opening minutes of play, freshman AlinaOkamoto nearly gave the Jumbos an early lead by getting on the end of a long pass. Following a shot just over the crossbar from O'Connor, and further efforts by sophomore right back Blair Brady, senior forward Jamie Love-Nichols ripped a shot at Wesleyan freshman goalkeeper Jessica Tollman, who managed to just barely keep a handle on the ball.
For most of the first half, the ball stayed in Wesleyan's end of the field, as the Jumbos launched a full-throttle shooting assault on the visiting team. Sophomore forward Maeve Stewart, returning from injury, helped keep the pressure on, using her speed to launch four shots at Tollman over the course of the game.
Barring an occasional defensive lapse by the Jumbos, the Cardinals struggled to penetrate their strong midfield and defensive units, which held strong despite their youth and gathered themselves quickly after momentary Cardinals breakthroughs. Sophomore midfielder Kerry Doyle launched a promising shot on Wright, but the Jumbos' backs aggressively deflected the ball, sending it back down the field.
"In both halves we put a lot of pressure on them offensively," junior midfielder Alyssa Von Puttkammer said. "It wasn't frustrating, but more just eye-opening that we were creating so many chances but we weren't putting them away."
Although play was relatively one-sided, the nil-nil score line held through to the half time whistle. Over the course of the first half, the Jumbos took 14 shots on Tollman compared to the two that Tufts sophomore goalkeeper Kristin Wright saw at her end of the field. Yet only six of the Jumbos' shots were on target, while the Cardinals made Wright work on both of theirs.
"[In the first half] I don't think it had much to do with the goalie; I actually don't think we tested her much despite the number of shots," O'Connor said. "We had everything but the final touch, that final bit of composure on the ball before the shot. Other than that we completely dominated the game."
Tufts did not slow down in the second half. Emerging from the intermission determined to make the scoreboard more accurately match what had occurred on the pitch, the Jumbos pressured the ball, and Okamoto and Love-Nichols immediately delivered opportunities into the Wesleyan box.
"Not really putting away the shots [in the first half] was just firing us all up to come out in the second half," Von Puttkammer said.
Finally, the pressure paid off in the 52nd minute. Von Puttkammer played in a free kick and, with Tollman caught diving the wrong way, O'Connor carefully controlled before launching the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
"Coming into the second half we were completely in control of the game; we just needed to get it done," said O'Connor, who scored her first goal ever as a Jumbo. "We put together another strong drive right in the beginning of that half and we were just looking to finish it because we knew we were the better team."
After the goal, Von Puttkammer continued to threaten, launching a corner into the box that O'Connor, looking to double her tally, tapped just wide of the net. The duo, with help from Okamoto and senior Laney Siegner, peppered the net the rest of the way.
"I think our ability to keep up the intensity the whole game is really just the quality of our bench," said Von Puttkammer, who now has three assists in as many games. "We are so deep that anyone can come off the bench and come in and it doesn't change the level of play. That can help in any game where you're not relying on three or four people, and then your team wears down. We have 25 incredibly strong players."
With roughly 15 minutes remaining, Wesleyan junior midfielder Laura Kurash broke through the Jumbos' ranks, providing the visiting team with its best opportunity to equalize. But a scrambling Wright quickly nullified the attack. A hip check in the box drew calls for a penalty kick in the final minutes from the Wesleyan faithful in the final minutes, but the protests fell on deaf ears.
From there, the Jumbos controlled the ball and let the final minutes tick away, sealing their 1-0 victory.
"You can never be content with a 1-0 score," O'Connor said. "You can never be comfortable with that. We're always looking for that second goal because it doesn't matter if you're dominating the whole game; at that point all it takes is one drive and one shot until it's a tie game. We never let down after we score a goal, and we knew we were going to go hard until the last minute."
Tufts will look to extend its three-game unbeaten streak in a pair of matches this week. They will host Wheaton on Wednesday before traveling to Colby on Saturday for their first away contest.
"Going into the next game with two wins under our belt, I think we definitely saw what we were capable of yesterday," O'Connor said. "We played the best we have thus far this season and I think we're all just trying to keep the winning streak alive now."
