Women's lacrosse struggles against top five opponents

After starting the 2016 season winning its first two games decisively, the women's lacrosse team fell to 2-2 on the season after a pair of losses this past week to some of the best teams in the nation in the final two matches of its season-opening four-game homestand. Nationally-ranked No. 9 Tufts fell No. 4 Middlebury 17-9 on Saturday after the visitors pulled away in the fourth quarter and then could not overcome defending national champions and current No. 1 SUNY Cortland on Wednesday.

Both opponents are undefeated so far this season. The Middlebury game was Tufts' first NESCAC contest of the season, and the loss puts the team at 0-1 in conference play.

The Jumbos kept Wednesday night's game against the Cortland Red Dragons mostly even through the first half, with the top-ranked team in the nation up by just a 9-7 margin going into the break, but the second half saw the visitors pull away for the 18-10 victory. The Jumbos came out strong to start the game and struck first as senior tri-captain midfielder Brigid Bowser found the back of the Red Dragons' net inside two minutes.

But Cortland quickly responded with three of its own over the next four minutes to take a 3-1 lead off of a pair of goals from sophomore attacker Hannah Elmer and one from senior midfielder Ashley Gentile. The Jumbos refused to let the ostensibly best team in the nation pull away, battling back with scores from senior tri-captain attacker Caroline Ross and junior attacker Kate Mackin before Bowser's goal in the 14th minute gave the hosts a 5-4 lead. 

This lead lasted for just two minutes, however, as Cortland went on a 5-1 scoring drive that lasted for most of the rest of the first half that was led by senior tri-captain midfielder/attacker Nicole Bello and junior attacker Kristen Ohberg, which gave Cortland a 9-6 lead that they would never relinquish. First-year midfielder Megan Toner snuck in a goal late in the half to put the Jumbos within two, but that was closest they would get for the rest of the game.

Though the Jumbos continued to put pressure on the Red Dragons throughout the second half, they began to run out of steam and the visitors capitalized. Cortland went on a 4-1 scoring run in the first 12 minutes of the second stanza to go up 13-8. In Tufts' last scoring surge, Mackin and first-year midfielder Gabby Vinci tallied goals to get their team within three. But Cortland got the final surge to prove its status as defending champions with five unanswered goals in the last eight minutes led by Ohberg and senior tri-captain midfielder Tara Monaghan to ice off their team's 18-10 victory.

Saturday's game against Middlebury saw the visitors stay on top of Tufts relatively easily throughout, with Middlebury senior tri-captain Alli Sciarretta and classmate Bridget Instrum both scoring five goals each to hand the hosts their first NESCAC loss. The Panthers' offense came alive from the whistle and it took the visitors only 45 seconds to find the back of the Jumbos' net. Middlebury junior attacker Bea Eppler opened the scoring with an assist by Instrum, opening the floodgates as Middlebury raced to a commanding 6-0 lead just 11 minutes in.

The Jumbos started cutting into the Panthers' lead with a 4-1 scoring run as the first half was winding down. Ross, Vinci and sophomore midfielder Caroline Nowak all got open and slung shots past Middlebury goalie Kate Furber. But the visitors snuffed out the comeback, answering with three of their own to end the half up 10-4.

The Jumbos sought to reduce the deficit in the second half with two early goals inside the first five minutes from Ross. But Tufts was unable to ever really threaten Middlebury's lead, and just as in Wednesday night's contest against Cortland, Tufts slumped off towards the end of the game. Four different scorers extended the Middlebury lead to 14-7 with a little over 15 minutes to play. In the last five minutes, Sciarretta scored twice and Pascal once to ice off the game and give Middlebury a comfortable eight-goal advantage at 17-9 that they carried to the final whistle.

“We were definitely disappointed with the defeat against our first NESCAC team,” Ross said. “They are a very good team, and they put a lot of pressure on the ball carrier, and we just didn’t handle as well as we should have.”

Despite the loss, the Jumbos did see impressive play from their first-years in a sign that bodes well for the rest of the season. Toner scooped up a game-high four groundballs and first-year attacker Dakota Adamec led Tufts with four draw controls, second in the game only to Middlebury senior midfielder Laurel Pascal’s seven.

Still, the Jumbos' offensive production severely slumped against strong competition as they averaged 21 shots in these two games — just over half of the 40-plus shots they averaged in their first two games of the season. The team notes that their play against tough skilled and well-balanced teams like Cortland and Middlebury could use some improvement.

“They are definitely good teams, and I think we still have a lot to work on, but we’re used to getting better every day,” Cohen said. “But you can’t focus too much on one game that’s already happened because you’ve got another one coming up.”

Tufts have a series of away encounters next, beginning this evening with another NESCAC matchup at Colby at 7 pm before the team travels to Stevenson on Thursday. Colby is 1-1 on the season while Stevenson is currently on a two game winning streak, though it lost its first four games. The Jumbos are already looking forward to bouncing back from this week's disappointments and get their first NESCAC win.

“We always say that the biggest game is the next one, so tomorrow against Colby is our next biggest game,” Cohen said. “We’re excited for our first away game and to play at a NESCAC school too because all NESCAC teams are good teams and we need to respect that. We’re definitely going to work hard and hope to have more success on the field tomorrow. Everyone is just motivated to stay positive, keep getting better, work hard in practice every day, looking for another chance to play another great team tomorrow.”