Box Score MEDFORD – The No. 5 Tufts University men's soccer team closed out their regular season with a 2-1 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) victory over Bowdoin College on Tuesday evening at Bello Field.
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| Junior Will Harned made six saves in his 10th win of the season. |
With the win, Tufts closes out the regular season with an 11-2-2 record overall and a 7-1-2 record in NESCAC games. Bowdoin will see their season end at 6-5-4 overall, 1-5-4 in league games.
The Jumbos advance into the NESCAC playoffs as the second seed. They will host the seventh seed, Hamilton College, at Bello Field on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff for the quarterfinal matchup is to be announced.
The teams traded early opportunity as junior Calvin Aroh fired a shot on goal for the Jumbos that was saved by Michael Webber. The Polar Bears earned a corner kick on their ensuing drive. Harry Cooper sent a ball to the left post that was deflected back to the middle of the box. Jason Oliver headed the ball on goal that forced junior Will Harned to come off his line and made the save.
Harned was tested early has Bowdoin played a free kick from a Tufts foul quickly and found a cutting Oliver on the right post who one-touched a shot on goal.
Bowdoin would strike first in 12th minute following a Tufts offside. The free kick from midfield by Cooper found Oliver on the right side of the box. Oliver made a quick cut into the middle of the box and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the goal.
With just under 10 minutes to play, Drake Byrd made a strong drive down the left side of the field. He cut in towards the middle and fired a strong shot from about 25-yards out. His shot forced Harned to make a leaping one handed save, otherwise the Polar Bears would hold a 2-0 advantage.
The Jumbos came out of the intermission on the attack as a long shot by senior Drew Stern nearly found the back of the goal. Webber made a leaping save to keep Tufts off the board. Just a couple of minutes later, junior Travis Van Brewer drove down the middle of the field and found senior Zach Lane on the right side of the box. He sent a ball to the far post for classmate Brett Rojas. However, his header went just wide.
Sophomore Ian Daly found free space on the right side of the field. He fired a strike going towards the top of the goal, but Webber made another leaping save. Another shot by Rojas from the box was saved by Webber. However, the Jumbo pressure would pay off as Lane buried his shot on a feed from classmate Gavin Tasker to make the score 1-1.
Bowdoin responded with a near goal by Matt Uek. He fired a shot from about 25-yards out that just went over the crossbar.
In the 72nd minute, Bowdoin fell victim to a handball in the box. Sophomore Aidan Welsh took the penalty kick and beat Webber, who anticipated a shot to his left. However, it went right down the middle. That is Welsh's first career goal.
In the remaining time, the Polar Bears went on the attack. They needed to at least tie the contest and push it to overtime but they needed a win to get the final spot in the NESCAC playoffs. Harned made two of his three second half saves with the Jumbos leading. The Polar Bears earned four corner kicks in the remaining time but were unable to find the back of the goal.
Harned improves to 10-2-1 on the season after making six saves on seven shots on goal in the win. Webber falls to 4-3-3 in the losing effort. He made eight saves on 10 shots on goal.
