Box Score 
MEDFORD – The Tufts University women's soccer team suffered a 2-1 overtime loss against the Middlebury College Panthers on Sunday at Dragone Field in a NESCAC game.
The game-winner came with just 51 seconds left in the first overtime and was scored by senior Gretchen McGrath after a cross from sophomore Fanny Lodge deflected off Tufts goalie Hayley Bernstein's hands to the foot of McGrath.
It was a back-and-forth game as both teams created an equal number of chances to score goals. The first chance came in the 12th minute when Tufts senior Stephanie DiLeo (pictured) sent a ball into the box and it deflected off a defender's leg to the feet of forward Liz Reed who sent a hard shot towards the net that Middlebury goalie Sydney Poppinga saved. Not long after that, Middlebury had a good chance to score when senior captain Simone Ameer, the sister of Tufts' midfielder Margaux Ameer, dribbled past a defender into the box and fired a shot by the diving Bernstein that hit the left post before it was cleared away.
Tufts was the first team on the scoreboard in the 22nd minute after freshman Jordan Cushner sent a cross to sophomore forward Nic Sommers who headed the ball in front of the net and Reed collected it and sent a shot off the bottom of the crossbar and into the goal for her team-leading eighth of the season. Tufts ended the first half with two more opportunities to score. In the 34th minute, Sommers sent a great pass to junior Maddie Pero on a breakaway and Pero entered the box and shot it towards the right side of the goal, but it was saved by Poppinga. A minute later, sophomore Casey Lam sent a high shot on goal, but Poppinga got a hand on it sending it over the crossbar. Tufts kept the 1-0 lead going into halftime.
The Panthers did not wait too much time to respond as they scored just nine minutes into the second half. Freshman midfielder Olivia O'Reilly settled the ball in the middle of the box and sent a hard pass directly in front to senior captain Eliza Van Voorhis who fired it in for the goal.
The rest of regulation time was a defensive battle, but there were two opportunities for Tufts to take the lead late in the game. In the 85th minute, Reed sent a pass towards senior forward Melina McDevitt in front of the goal, but Poppinga stepped up and dove on the ball before McDevitt could get a foot on it. With just 45 seconds left in regulation, Lam chased down a pass from DiLeo in the box and was behind the defense to fire a shot, but once again Poppinga charged out of the net and got a hand on the ball, deflecting it wide right of the goal to send the game to overtime with a score of 1-1.
There were not many chances for either team in the overtime period until the 99th minute when Lodge ran down a ball to save it from going out of bounds and crossed it towards the front of the net. Bernstein dove to try to save the ball from getting to the foot of a Middlebury player, but could not secure it and it ricocheted off her hands to the foot of McGrath who finished it for the game-winner.
Tufts (5-5, 3-4 NESCAC) and Middlebury (8-3-1, 3-3-1) both had 13 shots and four corner kicks on the day. Poppinga had five saves in the game compared to Bernstein's three.
The Jumbos will now host Amherst College on Saturday, October 16 at 12 PM in a NESCAC matchup, while Middlebury will also have a conference game at Colby College on that day at 11 AM.
Written by Tim O'Brien, Athletic Communications Intern
