BRUNSWICK, ME (October 24, 2023) -- Senior
Sean Traynor scored in the second half and sophomore goalkeeper
Nikola Antic helped the tally stand up as the Tufts University men's soccer team clinched a home playoff game with a 1-0 road win at Bowdoin College to finish the 2023 regular season.
The Jumbos (10-2-3, 6-2-2 New England Small College Athletic Conference) will be the No. 4 seed in the NESCAC Tournament after Tuesday's win, and will host No. 5 seed Bowdoin Saturday at a time to be determined on Bello Field. Tufts finished with 20 points, tied with Connectict College, but the Camels win percentage of .750 was higher than the Jumbos .700 which was the tiebreaker.
As for Tuesday night's affair, the game turned out to be a back-and-forth battle as the first half featured 15 shots between the two teams. The hosts posted nine shots in the first stanza, but Antic was able to stop all four on goal as the game went to halftime scoreless.
After the intermission, got on the board at the 51:44 mark of the contest as
Mikey Brady picked up a loose ball and drove towards the goal down the right side. Brady's shot across the goal mouth deflected off the left post, and
Sean Traynor was there to tuck the loose ball home for his fourth goal of the season.
From that point on the Jumbos were in defend mode, but the back line of Tufts dealt with the 12 second-half shots and five corner kicks well to keep Bowdoin (9-2-4, 5-2-3 NESCAC) off the board. In the 86th minute, the Polar Bears had their best chance of the game as Mateo Pacelli was one-on-one with Antic but the Jumbo keeper was able to make the close range save and smother the rebound to deny the hosts.
Bowdoin outshot Tufts 21-8 on the evening, while posting a 10-3 edge in corner kicks. Antic earned his sixth shutout of the season, making five saves. Bowdoin was paced by Julian Juantorena and his five shots, while Felipe Rueda Duran and Tyler Huck each took four shots on the night. Alex Ainsworth stopped two shots for the Polar Bears.
The last time Bowdoin and Tufts met in the NESCAC Tournament was back in 2021, when the Jumbos defeated Bowdoin in the quarterfinals 3-0 on Bello Field. In 2021, the two teams had also met four days earlier in the season in Maine, with the game ending in a tie. The two teams have played five times in the NESCAC Tournament prior to Saturday's upcoming game, with the series deadlocked at 2-2-1.
--JUMBOS--
