The women's soccer season ended in heartbreak for the Jumbos, who on Saturday were eliminated by Wesleyan in penalty kicks in the NESCAC quarterfinals.
Tufts finished the fall with a 7-4-4 record, including five strong conference wins, two tough conference draws and a pair of heartbreaking 1-0 defeats. This marks the third time in four years that the team has lost in a penalty shootout in the conference quarters.
Despite the Jumbos' disappointment, the team improved significantly throughout the season and consistently challenged opponents in overtime or one-goal decisions.
"I don't think our record shows how good our team was, and I don't think we ever quite reached our full potential," senior forward Jamie Love-Nichols said. "I think our close losses and ties this season show that."
"Mostly that's just soccer," junior midfielder Alyssa Von Puttkammer added. "It's rare to have a huge win or loss. Especially in the NESCAC when there aren't any games you can take lightly."
It was fitting, then, that the Jumbos went out fighting and took Wesleyan to penalties after 110 minutes of play. Tufts held a massive advantage in shots, leading the Cardinals 31 to 10, but — as was the case several times this season — the Jumbos struggled to convert these looks into goals.
The final score did not reflect the balance of play, as Tufts dominated possession for much of the second period and both halves of overtime. Although the result was a bitter pill to swallow, the squad's perseverance and the leadership of the six seniors were obvious, as was the case throughout the season.
Tufts kicked off fall play on Sept. 10 with a 2-2 draw against No. 17 Middlebury, the No. 2 seed in this year'sNESCAC tournament. From there, the Jumbos went 3-0-1 before suffering their first loss on Oct. 1, when they dropped a hard-fought 2-0 decision to Amherst, now ranked No. 8 nationally and the NESCAC's No. 1 seed.
The Jumbos rebounded, however, winning three of their next four decisions, including decisive, two-goal victories over conference foes Trinity and Conn. College. Tufts also battled back to tie then-No. 23 Wheaton, 2-2, in another double-overtime matchup. The Jumbos dropped a disappointing 2-0 contest to non-conference opponent Endicott, though, in a game that foreshadowed some of their most glaring weaknesses.
"Throughout the season, one of our biggest struggles was consistency. In Wheaton, we were up 1-0 and then let them come back and get two goals," Love-Nichols said. "Against Endicott, we didn't show up mentally and I would say that was the overall low point of the season. This was definitely a set back. We knew we had to win our out-of-season games if we wanted a chance at an at-large bid, and we didn't get it done in either of thosegames."
In the second of two doubleheader weekends, Williams and Bates exploited these weaknesses, handing the Jumbos consecutive NESCAC losses that brought their record to 6-4-2. Both matchups ended 1-0, and the frustrating results only served to further fire up head coach Martha Whiting's squad.
"Losing on Senior Day to Williams, and never beating them in my collegiate career was heartbreaking," Love-Nichols said. "Losing to Bates just added salt to the wound, especially after last year's quarterfinal match."
The following week, the Jumbos prepared for their final regular-season games, invigorated with a new sense of urgency and a desire to win. On Oct. 22, the Jumbos fought the Hamilton Continentals, the newest members of the conference, to a 0-0 draw in double overtime.
"The overall feeling after the losses was disappointment, but we used that to fuel us going into the Hamilton game," Von Puttkammer said. "We needed to redefine ourselves, and the game against Hamilton was the first time we put together a solid 90-plus minutes of focused soccer."
Four days later, Tufts traveled to Bowdoin and earned a much-needed NESCAC win, beating the Polar Bears 3-1 after a barrage of late shots and offensive pieces led to two Jumbos tallies in the last 13 minutes of play.
"I think Bowdoin gave us a lot of confidence," Love-Nichols said. "I was so proud of our team that we could come out of half time 1-1 and put them away 3-1 like it was nothing."
Over the course of the season, senior co-captains Lauren O'Connor and Olivia Rowse molded a youthful team into a corps of veteran players. The Jumbos fought through injuries to starting sophomores Maeve Stewart and Sophia Wojtasinski, among others, and learned how to win regardless of which players Whiting put on the field.
Sophomore keeper Kristin Wright finished the season with 46 stops, good enough for an .868 save percentage. Her fellow goalie, junior Phoebe Hanley, who often saw action in the second half, finished with 19 saves. Both will return next fall.
"[Wright, Hanley and sophomore Rachel Chazin-Gray] are phenomenal keepers," Von Puttkammer said. "It has to get past all 11 of us to get to them, and we definitely gave them some tough plays to handle."
Three of the squad's five leading point-scorers should also be back next year, though seniors O'Connor and leading scorer Jamie Love-Nichols, who had four goals and two assists on the season, will be lost to graduation. Whiting and the Jumbos will count on Von Puttkammer, the second leading scorer and a team player who posted six assists. Von Puttkammer served as the spark plug in countless offensive pieces and played an integral role in corner opportunities, unsettled attacks and consistent play on both ends of the field.
"Our seniors are irreplaceable," she said. "They are all extremely talented players and teammates. We had exceptional leadership this year, and they did a great job of bringing the team together. We have big shoes tofill."
Stewart, who finished the season with four goals and an assist despite missing the first few games, will lead the way for the class of 2014, while six freshmen will return for their sophomore fall, led by midfielder AlinaOkamoto, who played in 14 of 15 games. The Jumbos' depth was one of their greatest strengths this fall, and Tufts' experienced players will return hungrier and smarter than ever.
The penalty kick loss was a hard one to swallow — but if the Jumbos can learn to maintain their intensity and convert on goal-scoring opportunities, they will come back next fall ready to succeed.
"Our team is lucky to be returning 19 great players next season," Love-Nichols said. "While I think that my senior class is extremely talented and has done a great job leading our team this season, I have no doubt that the junior and sophomore classes will step up even more next season and lead our team to greatness."
