Tufts sports top 10 moments of 2016-17

The 2016–2017 season was a dominant year for Jumbo athletics. Following a strong fall campaign, Tufts was No. 2 in Div. III in the Learfield Director's Cup standings. Following an equally impressive winter campaign, Tufts athletics remained a top-three force nationally. These dominant seasons were made up of hundreds of victories, big and small -- but here are the Daily's picks for the top-10 Tufts sports moments of the year.

10. Men's ice hockey beats Trinity in first game of season

After their comeback against Trinity in the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament fell just short last year, Tufts got even by defeating the defending conference champions 3-1 in the team's season opener. Trinity was the first to strike with a goal in the first period, and it wasn’t until 6:01 remaining in the second period that Tufts' rising sophomore defender Cooper Stahl tied the game with his first collegiate goal. With three minutes left in the third period, rising senior forward Brian Brown scored on a power-play to give the Jumbos a 2-1 lead. At 19:02, Brown tacked on an empty-netter to ice the victory. In a testament to how big the win was, Trinity went on to win its second consecutive NESCAC title against Hamilton later in the season and lost in the NCAA finals against Norwich.

9. Women's volleyball makes deep NCAA run

For just the second time in program history the Tufts women’s volleyball team advanced all the way to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. The team fell in its quarterfinal matchup to Southwestern (Texas) in a thrilling five-set match on Nov. 17, 2016 as their comeback effort fell just short. After getting an at-large bid to the tournament following an impressive 22-2 regular season (10-0 NESCAC), the Jumbos easily got through the first round to earn NCAA Regionals hosting rights. Tufts took down both UMass-Boston and Springfield College 3-1 at Cousens Gym to earn its Elite Eight spot in Oshkosh, Wis. 

 

8. Women’s crew sweeps races in season opener

Tufts kicked off its spring season on April 8 with a dominant showing on the Malden River, winning all five races in which the team participated. Against a field made up of Coast Guard, Trinity and Simmons College, Tufts' three boats were undefeated. The first varsity eight beat Coast Guard by a 29-second margin in the semi-finals and then Trinity by a dominant 37-second margin in the finals to win in the four-team format. The second varsity eight and third varsity eight also claimed wins in their races. Each defeated Simmons, and the second boat also took down Trinity in its second race.

 

7. Men’s lacrosse breaks program record for number of wins to start season

For the first time in program history, the Jumbos opened the season with 11 consecutive wins. Previously, Tufts' best start was 10-0, which the team achieved in 2011 and 2015, both years in which they won NCAA titles. In that 11-0 run, the Jumbos took down six NESCAC teams and five non-conference teams while outscoring their opponents 199-107, including four games in which they scored more than 20 points and six games in which they allowed fewer than 10 goals. The strong start was an impressive debut performance for new head coach Casey D’Annolfo, who took over the program this season.

 

6. Men's swimming and diving sends nine to Nationals

The men’s swimming and diving squad capped off its best season in over a decade with impressive representation at this year’s NCAA Championships in Shenandoah, Texas. The team had nine Jumbos qualify for the championship meet in mid-March, marking the program's largest NCAA squad since the 2009–2010 season. Those swimmers collected six All-American honors (top eight in the nation) and six All-American honorable mentions (top 16). Graduating senior tri-captain Matt Rohrer, who came into his fourth consecutive NCAA meet with four All-American honors and two honorable mention honors already, was the lone senior and the lone diver in a squad that featured seven Jumbos making their NCAA debuts. In a promising sign for the future of the program, the nine-man squad featured two sophomores and three first-years. Rohrer earned All-American honors in both the one- and three-meter events while rising sophomore Kingsley Bowen, the other NCAA returner, racked up three All-American awards. The team totaled 126 points over the four-day event to place 10th overall, marking the program's best NCAA performance since the 2005–2006 season. 

 

5. Women's basketball reaches NCAA finals with comeback against St. Thomas in semifinals

In a comeback reminiscent of the Patriots’ Super Bowl LI victory -- the Patriots' official twitter account actually tweeted about Tufts’ come-from-behind victory -- Tufts dug deep in its Final Four contest against St. Thomas to earn a remarkable 60-57 win that sent the team to its second consecutive national championship game appearance.

The Jumbos trailed 53-41 with 5:30 to play but ended the game on a 19-4 run to claim the win. Rising sophomore Erica DeCandido started the comeback with an old-fashioned three-point play, rising senior Melissa Baptista hit a free throw, classmate and tri-captain Lauren Dillon hit a clutch three before graduating senior tri-captain Michela North’s two free throws made the contest a one-possession game. After a St. Thomas score, Baptista sunk a three and then made a layup to tie it up before rising junior guard Jacqueline Knapp drained a three-point jumper of her own to give Tufts a 58-55 lead with 32 seconds to play. Dillon then hit two free throws in the waning seconds to seal the win.

 

4. Field Hockey wins NESCAC Championship

Tufts field hockey (19-3) quickly raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10:30 of play against Middlebury (15-5) in the NESCAC Championship game on Nov. 6 and appeared in control for most of the game, but Middlebury managed to sneak in a second-half goal to cut the deficit in half. Instead of riding out their narrow lead, the Jumbos responded by putting the pressure on and, with under 10 minutes to play, rising senior forward Mary Travers single-handedly cut through the defense to get off a shot. Graduating senior forward Annie Artz knocked home the deflection to ice the 3-1 Tufts victory and secure the program’s second NESCAC title, the first on Ounjian Field in its inaugural season.

 

3. Chance Brady ties (and then breaks) Tufts' rushing touchdown record

Graduating senior tri-captain running back Chance Brady’s final season was one for the ages, as the Haverhill, Mass. native set multiple Tufts single-game, single-season and career records for yards and touchdowns. Perhaps no play was more representative of Brady’s outstanding body of work, however, than his run to tie Tufts’ rushing career touchdown record. In the Oct. 22, 2016 game against Williams (0-8), with the Jumbos up 14-9 in the third quarter, Brady took a handoff from rising junior quarterback Ryan McDonald and shook off three different tacklers on a thrilling 31-yard touchdown run. While Brady’s two-yard dive into the end zone later that same quarter was the run that broke the record, his earlier score best embodied his hard-running style.

 

2. Tim Nichols wins 5k NCAA title at Nationals

Graduating senior Tim Nichols, who has had an impressive career as a Jumbo, capped off the indoor season by claiming a national title in the 5,000 meters on March 10. His regular season school record time of 14:19.45 granted him the top seed in the race, and he put up an equally impressive performance on the national stage. He ran the event in 14:25.08, which was a track record at the NCAA Championships venue, North Central College. Nichols continued his success into the outdoor season, shattering multiple Tufts distance running records as well as claiming his first ever NESCAC title in the 10,000 meters. 1. Men's soccer wins National Championship with double overtime goal

After starting the season 0-2-1, no one would have believed that the Jumbos could turn their season around and finish 15-5-2 with their second NCAA title in the last three years. The Jumbos were fortunate to receive an at-large bid to the tournament after bowing out of the NESCAC tournament in the quarterfinals, and, with one of the lowest win totals heading into the tournament, they faced an uphill road to the finals against opponents that mostly had 20 or more wins. After the team reached the finals through a series of one-goal wins, rising senior midfielder Tyler Kulcsar got a foot on a strong corner kick service from classmate Kevin Halliday in the 103rd minute of double overtime to give Tufts a 1-0 victory over Calvin College in the championship game, just seven minutes before the game would have gone to penalty kicks.