SOMERVILLE -- Freshman Maxime Hoppenot (Princeton, NJ) tallied a pair of first-half goals and that is all the Tufts University Jumbos needed in a 2-1 victory over the Williams College Ephs in NESCAC action on Saturday afternoon's Senior Day at Kraft Field.
Before the match, the Jumbos honored their five seniors: Zach Cousens (Contocook, NH), Alan Bernstein (Wayne, NJ), Matt Blumenthal (Simsbury, CT), Jesse Poon (Cumberland, RI) and Naji Muakassa (Jamesville, NY).
Williams had a good opportunity five minutes into the match on a shot from senior Daniel Morrisroe (Riverside, CT), but Bernstein made a diving stop for the Jumbos. In the 10th minute, the Jumbos had a chance, but junior Rafael Ramos-Meyer's (Washington, DC) laser of a shot struck the near post.
Hoppenot broke the scoreless game in the 24th minute. He started the sequence with a throw in from the right side that struck a Williams player in the box. The ball then caromed directly to Hoppenot who was following the play and he sent it inside the far post.
Hoppenot tallied his second of the game and fourth of the year in the 41st minute off a beautiful lead pass from sophomore Jono Edelman (Memphis, TN). Edelman sent it forward from the left side towards the middle where Hoppenot stayed onside and streaked past two defenders to go one-on-one with the keeper.
Tufts dominated the stat sheet in the first half, out-shooting the Ephs 8-3 and gaining six corner kicks while Williams had none.
Early in the second half in the 54th minute, Williams had a pair of shots that led to a corner-kick opportunity. On the attempt though, a header went wide.
Williams kept up strong offensive pressure for the majority of the half, and rallied to get within one in the 83rd minute on a goal by senior Nick Pugliese (Rochester, NY). His shot deflected off a Jumbo body in front of the net, re-directing it into the goal.
Tufts, which defeated Williams for just the second time since 1995 including 2008, improves to 6-2-2 overall and 3-2-2 in NESCAC play. Coach Josh Shapiro's team will be at Bates tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm. Williams falls to 5-3-2 and 3-2-2 in conference. Williams plays at Connecticut College tomorrow at 2 pm.
Match statistics
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