Women's lacrosse trounces Keene State but still struggling in the NESCAC

The Jumbos hit the road last week, easily handling Keene State to the tune of 23-7 on Wednesday but falling to Conn. College by just one point in a tough 14-13 NESCAC loss on Saturday. The team's non-conference play, for which they boast a 4-1 record, has been solid all season, but the team has struggled in the NESCAC. After defeating Trinity on March 26, the reigning NESCAC tournament champions the team had hoped to build on its only conference win against Conn College. Instead, Tufts fell to 1-3 in the NESCAC. 

"The NESCAC is always strong," coach Courtney Farrell said. "In women’s lacrosse, I'm not sure the exact numbers right now, but typically there [are] anywhere from six to nine teams [from the NESCAC] in the top 20 in the country so it’s always an incredibly strong conference. We’re working every day to try to be one of the best teams in the conference."

As Farrell suggested, the Jumbos, despite being ranked 16th in the nation, are just the seventh-highest ranked team in the NESCAC, which boasts five teams in the top 10 alone.

Although the Jumbos let up the first goal of Saturday's game to the NESCAC player of the week, Camels senior Erin Moran, they took control of the game almost immediately afterwards. Senior tri-captain Caroline Ross netted her first goal three minutes after Moran's and first-year Gabby Vinci put the Jumbos ahead with her first goal of the day. Ross, who leads the Jumbos in scoring with 27 goals on the season, scored three total against the Camels. In her best game to date, Vinci managed four scores — three of which came in the second half — doubling her season total.

Both coach Farrell and Ross singled out Vinci as one of the team's biggest contributors recently.

"There [have] been a couple other people that have done a really nice job for us as well," Farrell said. "Gabby [Vinci] put in four goals against Conn. and finished on a lot of the opportunities she had. We’ve had people step up all over on the offensive end. I think we’ve had a couple good games, we’ve got to just keep finishing on our shots."

Moran briefly brought the Camels back to a tie with her second score, but not even a minute later senior tri-captain Brigid Bowser retook the lead for the Jumbos on an assist from Ross. Piling on, Ross scored her second goal only 18 seconds later. The Jumbos shared the love as sophomore Taylor Meek's shot crossed the plane on an assist from Ross and sophomore Caroline Nowak fired her own shot through on a feed from Meek. Up 6-2, it appeared as though the Jumbos had the game under control.

However, Moran netted her third of the afternoon, followed by scores from senior Cassidy Lynch, junior co-captain Lacey Hale and then Lynch again. In a span of seven and a half minutes, the Jumbos' lead evaporated.

First-year Cecily Freliech halted the Camels' run with six minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the half, but junior attacker Tina Balzotti and Moran each scored to close out the half.

Entering the second half, the Camels led 8-7, but the game remained close as Bowser's second goal tied the score four minutes into the half. Lynch scored on a Balzotti assist at 21:19 but, three minutes later, Vinci scored goals two and three within 40 seconds of each other. Moran refused to let the Camels fall behind and beat junior goalkeeper Ruth Barry for the fifth time, tying the score up at ten. The Camels won the draw and Hale netted her second of the afternoon with a third to follow a little over six minutes later. The Jumbos could not maintain possession as the Camels earned their fourth goal in a row on an Anna Jorgensen score. Stopping the run once again was Freliech, who brought the Jumbos within two.

Unquestionably the player of the game, Moran scored the game-winner at 5:27, finishing with six goals and an assist. Ross and Vinci would both score afterwards, Vinci with 22 seconds remaining, but the Jumbos proved to be one goal short at the final whistle.

"I think number 12, Erin [Moran] did a phenomenal job," Farrell said. "She played like a senior on a team who wanted to win a NESCAC game. We made some adjustments on her throughout the game but she did a really nice job. I think she ended with six goals on the day, and we struggled as a defense to try to figure out how to shut her down, but I think it was her playing a great game."

In such a back and forth contest, it is no surprise that the Jumbos and Camels were tied in draw controls at 14 and ground balls at six, while the Jumbos had eight turnovers to the Camels' nine. The biggest statistical discrepancy were fouls, as the Jumbos were called for 31, split almost evenly between the two halves, to the Camels' measly 18.

"We really didn’t get the result we wanted on Saturday, but we’ve been working hard and [we are] going to get back on track," Ross said.

Against Keene State, Tufts was an offensive juggernaut. True to form, Ross scored first in only 34 seconds. Keene State answered back with a free position shot goal from junior Jenna Bellano, but Ross subsequently dropped two more on free position shots. It was first-year Megan Toner's turn next, as she also scored two in a row on free position shots.

"We had a lot of people step up, especially on the attacking end, in both of those games," Farrell said. "A constant for us on the attacking end is Caroline Ross, one of our senior captains, she is definitely our leader on the attacking end and is someone we have a lot of confidence in."

The Owls sandwiched Jumbo sophomore Jenn Duffy's first goal with two of their own, but Duffy then scored a second at 17:16 to bring the score to 7-3. Duffy's second goal marked the beginning of an eight-goal run for the Jumbos, as Bowser, Ross and  junior Kate Mackin each scored twice. Nowak also scored in the onslaught. Almost mercifully, Bellano killed the streak at 3:06 on a free position shot and another goal ended the half 14-5 in favor of the Jumbos.

The second half was more of the same after first-year Samantha Ballard started the half off on an assist from Bellano. Tufts then proceeded to score six times, including another goal each from Mackin and Nowak plus two from Freliech. Duffy and Nowak would each score again before the end of the contest. Ross finished with five goals while Nowak, Mackin and Duffy each scored three.

"It was a fun game," Ross said. "We really just wanted to work our offense, get everyone involved, get our bench in. When we play those kinds of games it’s really about helping our teammates who don’t get on the field every game and having them get experience on the field because they are going to be playing in the future."

Tufts, 1-3 in conference play, will next host Williams (2-2) at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday and Hamilton (2-3) at noon on Saturday. With only conference games remaining on their schedule, it is crucial for the Jumbos to capitalize at home to earn a high seed for the NESCAC tournament.