EWING, NJ (November 11, 2023) -- The Tufts University women's soccer team made the most of the opportunity to get back onto the pitch after receiving a NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament Pool C "at large" bid, as the Jumbos got a pair of goals from sophomore Elsi Aires to knock off Franklin & Marshall College 2-1 Saturday in First Round action from Lions Stadium on the campus of The College of New Jersey. 

With the victory, Tufts (8-5-4) moves on to take on host TCNJ at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon in Ewing following the Lions' 3-0 win over Johnson & Wales University in the first game of the day. 

The Jumbos had the run of play early on in the contest, as Thalia Greenberg had a great chance only 43 seconds into the game that went just wide. In the 16th minute, Erin Duncan nearly made the score 1-0 for Tufts but her attempt was stopped by Lucile Fleming. Tufts continued the momentum through the first half, outshooting the Diplomats 11-2 in the opening stanza while earning both corner kicks in the stanza. 

Both teams came out firing in the second half though, as both teams got on the scoreboard within two minutes of the restart of the second 45 minutes. The Jumbos would take their first lead of the game 1:28 into the second half as Caroline Kelly chipped a ball into Aires, who beat the charging keeper to the ball and buried her shot past Fleming for a 1-0 Jumbo lead. The goal was Aires ninth of the season.

The Diplomats needed only 22 seconds to respond though, as Mikaela Timmermans tallied her seventh of the season on a blast from the right wing into the left-side netting. Minutes later, F&M had a chance but a near-post shot from Alison Francis was stopped by Gigi Edwards for Tufts. In the 63rd minute, Aires once again was 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper but this time Fleming was able to make the save to keep the game deadlocked at a goal apiece. 

Two minutes later, a nice give-and-go with Kelly and Aires resulted in a great chance at the near post but Kelly's attempt was stopped with a dive by Fleming. 

The deciding goal though came at the 67:37 mark of the contest, as Jordan Cushner drove strongly down the end line and her cross was one-timed in on the left side by Aires to put the Jumbos up 2-1. 

In the 73rd minute, the Jumbo lead nearly doubled to two as Kelly found some room but her attempt clanged off the left post and out. 

F&M came on late in the last 10 minutes, but three saves by Edwards would help the Jumbos move into the NCAA Second Round for the second straight season. 

The Jumbos finished with a 24-11 edge in shot attempts, including a 10-7 advantage in shots on goal. Tufts also took all five corner kicks in the game. 

Aires finished with a game-high seven shots, while Kelly also fired five shots total. With Aires 10th goal of the season, she becomes the first Jumbo with 10 goals in a season since Liz Reed in 2021. Waverly Sumner came off the bench to take three shots as well, and Edwards finished with six stops between the pipes for Tufts. Fleming tallied eight saves for the Dips, and Francis led F&M in shots with four. 

Tufts will now look forward to its match-up with TCNJ on Sunday, as the squads have met three times prior to that match-up. The Lions won the first two, including a 2-1 win in the 2000 NCAA National Championship, while also earning a win over Tufts in the 2005 NCAA Final Four. The Jumbos won the last meeting in 2019 in the NCAA Second Round, also played in Ewing, NJ at Lions Stadium.