MEDFORD - The attack line of
Maddie Pero,
Nic Sommers, and
Erin Duncan proved to be too much for the Emerson Lions as Tufts women's soccer won 4-1 at Bello Field on Wednesday afternoon. The trio accounted for three of Tufts' goals on six shots.
Pero got the opening goal for Tufts as she got a nice pass from Duncan in the 3rd minute, and she slotted it home to give the Jumbos the 1-0 lead. After several minutes of back-and-forth play between the teams, Tufts'
Thalia Greenberg gave the home team a 2-0 lead after she was able to pick up a ball after an Emerson defender tried to clear it and put one past the goalie.
In the 33rd minute, Emerson's Simone Barragan-Shaw made a nice run down the right side of the field, beat the defender and her crossed was deflected into the goal by a Jumbo player. The score would remain 2-1 until halftime.
To start the second half, Tufts was the more aggressive and offensive team, and their nice play was rewarded when Sommers scored her first goal of the season.
Claire Wilkinson made a nice defensive play to intercept a ball and she was able to find Pero on the wing. Pero's cross came off a defender and went right to Sommer's feet and she beat the goalie high to give Tufts a 3-1 lead in the 50th minute.
Ten minutes later, Duncan scored after Tufts continued to put the pressure on the Emerson defense, especially with
Jordan Cushner coming up from the back to help. That resulted in her winning a ball and finding Wilkinson on the wing. Wilkinson's cross was a beauty as it found Duncan and she scored to give Tufts a 4-1 advantage.
Even after being down 4-1, Emerson was still attacking and in the 65th minute Madeline Kaw had a really good chance after a Tufts turnover, but her shot hit the crossbar. About 10 minutes later, Brittney Righetti had another good chance as her shot got past Tufts goalie, but the ball hit the post and Jumbo keeper
Kaelin Logue was able to cover it up. The game eventually ended 4-1 to give Tufts the victory in its season-opener.
Tufts' attackers were on the front foot all afternoon as they out-shot Emerson 17-6 including 10 of those shots coming in the second half. With all those shots came corner opportunities as Tufts had six corners to Emerson's one. Emerson goalie Amara Schaub ended the game with three saves. Neither Logue nor
Hayley Bernstein, who started in goal for Tufts and played the first half, needed to make a save.
With the win, Tufts moves to 1-0-0 on the season with the next game on Saturday as they face Connecticut College at home at 12pm to start conference play. The loss moves Emerson to 1-1-1 on the season and they will square off with Plymouth State at home next Tuesday.
Game recap written by Ryan Daly, Athletic Communications Intern
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