Box Score MEDFORD - On a bone chilling afternoon, the 9-1-3 Jumbos sprinted out to an early lead and never looked back on their way to overwhelming 5-8-1 Plymouth State in a 4-0 shutout. Gus Santos, Maxime Hoppenot, and Gaston Becherano tallied goals for Tufts, while Rui Pinheiro notched two assists. It was Tufts' third straight shutout.
Despite miserable weather conditions, the Jumbos displayed confidence and composure throughout the contest. Just a minute and a half in, Connor Brown passed the ball into the middle from the right wing and found Santos who took a rip on net that appeared to be heading over the crossbar, but a blistering wind halted the ball in flight and caught everyone off guard, including Plymouth State goalkeeper Felix Lindeberg. The ball dropped out of the air and behind the keeper into the net.
It was Santos' fifth goal of the season, tying him for first on the team with Brown. Santos is hitting his stride at the perfect time as it was his fourth straight game with a goal.
Before ten minutes had gone by, the Jumbos struck again. This time it was a Pinheiro dish that was sent to Hoppenot, who cleverly hit the ball with the outside of his right foot as it deflected off Lindeberg for the score.
Panther forwards Nick Rutherford and Alex Herbert were intended targets of several through balls, but nothing ever came to fruition, as Tufts goaltender Bruce Johnson, who started his second game for the Jumbos, was quick to defuse any potential chances.
Two minutes after the Hoppenot goal, Brown raced down the right flank and lofted a ball intended for Hoppenot, but it flew just past him and reached Santos who headed it hard on net. In an attempt to clear the ball, a Panther defender hit it into his own net for the own goal.
In the second half, the Jumbos continued to press and eventually furthered their lead. First, Santos sent a beautiful ball across the field to Brown who settled it, took one touch, and rocketed it off the crossbar. With under ten minutes to go, Becherano collected the ball on the left side and dribbled inward to his right. He launched a gorgeous curving ball that curled into the right side netting for his second goal of the season.
During the second half, many Jumbo reserves were able to gain valuable extended playing time and showed that Tufts is a very deep squad. Defenders Malcolm Steele, Conor Coleman, Daniel Sullivan, and Connor Schaible remained very solid at the back. Schaible sent a pretty ball to Dexter Eichhorst that he made solid contact with, but the header ended up over the net.
Midfielders Michael Miele, Stephen McMillian, Tyler Kulcsar, and Kevin Lawson played smart in the middle. Lawson got off two good looks, one of which was on net.
Dexter Eichhorst and Scott Sclar performed well up front for Tufts, with Sclar recording two shot attempts.
Bruce Johnson played well and made two saves in net on his way to recording his first shutout of the year.
The Jumbos took care of business early and were able to get reserves precious minutes, while also providing starters with some crucial rest before the final two games of the season, both of which are NESCAC contests. The first is on Saturday at 2:30pm against Hamilton on Kraft Field.
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