Box Score ALLENTOWN, PA - In an outstanding peformance, the Tufts men's soccer team prevailed 2-0 at host Muhlenberg College in the third round of the NCAA Championship on Saturday. The Jumbos move on to the NCAA Quarterfinals, where they will play Messiah College tomorrow at 1 pm.
In a match between two of the top defensive teams in the nation, Tufts had the upper hand as they scored two second-half goals to complete an at-times dominating effort. The Jumbos finished with advantages of 11-6 in shots and 10-4 in corners against a Mules side that was ranked 13th nationally with a 0.55 goals against average entering the game.
Tufts ended Muhlenberg's nine-game unbeaten (8-0-1) streak, which had included six consecutive shutouts. It marked just the third time in 20 games this fall that a team scored two or more goals against the #10 in the nation Mules, who finished their season with a 15-2-3 record.
The unranked Jumbos advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time in program history, joining the 1994 squad. Today's win puts Tufts at 13-2-4 overall, also matching the 1994 Jumbos for the most single-season wins in program history.
Field conditions at Muhlenberg were a factor after the pitch froze overnight and had only slightly melted before play started today. Messiah defeated SUNY Cortland 6-0 in the other third-round game played at the site starting at 11 am.
"It was a challenging game," Tufts coach Josh Shapiro said. "The field deteriorated pretty quickly because of rain and freezing and thawing, so it was incredibly slick. Guys were slipping a lot so it made it difficult to try and play an open style. We decided to try and play a little bit more direct to start, get it into their half and then try and play. So it was a little bit of a territorial battle and I thought we won that territorial battle on the day. We did sort of play the game on our terms for the most part."
Tufts and Muhlenberg were tied 0-0 at the half. Despite slippery footing, the Jumbos were the more dangerous team in the opening stanza. They out-shot the Mules 7-2 and had an 8-1 advantage in corner opportunities for the first 45 minutes. Muhlenberg senior goalkeeper Danny Pinto made four saves in the first half, including two off Tufts corners in the final minute. Jumbo senior Gus Santos had three shots in the first half, while at the other end sophomore goalie Scott Greenwood made two saves in the Jumbo goal.
The Jumbos continued to control the play in the second half and were rewarded for it. In the 59th minute, senior Peter Lee-Kramer headed a free kick by junior Rui Pinheiro into the goal for a 1-0 Tufts lead. The goal was the first allowed by the Mules since October 29.
Pinto made a save off Tufts junior Connor Brown two minutes later and the Jumbo defense blocked a shot by Muhlenberg's Jack Dusing shortly after that, but the next 10-plus minutes were played without either team creating a shot or corner.
That changed in the 73rd minute when Tufts sophomore Nathan Majumder ran onto a ball played into the box at the same time as Pinto. Barely beating the goalkeeper to the ball, Majumder was taken out by Pinto and earned a penalty stroke. He converted, giving the Jumbos a very important insurance goal for a 2-0 lead.
The Mules would put some pressure on the Tufts net in the closing minutes. They earned a corner in the 81st minute with no result, a shot by junior Chris Russomano was saved by Greenwood and in the closing seconds a shot by Joey Roberts went wide.
Greenwood finished with three saves as Tufts earned its 11th shutout of the fall and second straight in NCAA play. Tufts lowered its goals against average to 0.55 with the blanking. Pinto finished with five saves.
"For the most part we were able to limit their opportunities to face up and attack us and we got into dangerous areas, won a lot of corners, won a lot of free kicks and created some real danger from there," Shapiro said. "I think we played it to the right areas to be safer for us and more dangerous for them and created enough chances to ultimately get it done."
The reward for the victory is a meeting with #2 Messiah, which has won five of the last six and eight of the last 10 NCAA Division III titles. They have 10 titles overall and have been to 14 "Final Fours." Tufts is looking to reach its first "Final Four." Tomorrow's Quarterfinal will be played at Muhlenberg.
"They're the standard," Shapiro said. "They've won eight of the last 10 (NCAA titles) and they're 22-0-1. We need to try to make it hard on them. They like to get a lot of numbers forward and if we pick it at the right time and play our speedy guys into space we can cause them real problems.
"I think we're going to have to defend resiliently, Scotty (Greenwood) is going to have to make plays in goal, the center-backs are going to have to be strong," Shapiro continued. "If we do that and catch a few breaks, we can cause some real problems. We're coming in to win the game. It's a great standard and you know where you are if you can get a result against Messiah. Our guys should believe that we can get that result."
The Jumbo program is making its fourth NCAA appearance overall and second under current head coach Josh Shapiro. With today's win, Tufts is 5-3 in NCAA Tournament games.
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