Box Score MEDFORD, MA (September 10, 2023)—The Tufts University men's soccer team won in dominant fashion from a rainy Bello Field on Sunday afternoon in a 7-0 onslaught against The University of Maine Farmington. The total was the most Jumbo goals in a single 90-minute contest since October 10 2017, when Tufts defeated The College of Mount Saint Vincent 10-0. The score sheet was filled today with contributors, headlined by junior forward
Ben Verner's two goals.
Jumbos kicked off on a wet and rainy Bello Field to initial play, following a two-hour lightning delay. The Beavers would punch first as they recorded the first shot of the matchup off senior Cade McHugh's 30-yard strike that would easily be scooped up by an in-form sophomore
Nikola Antic for the Jumbos.
From then on out it would be the Jumbos on the gas pedal pressuring the Beavers from end-to-end. Scoring was opened in the 24
th minute from a short-played corner to
Woovin Shin, as his cross curled into the box to find the cutting
Taylor Feinberg who flicked the service into the back of the net to open up scoring at 1-0 for the Jumbos.
Six minutes later, in the 31
st minute, senior midfielder Liam Gerkin's free kick found sophomore defensemen
Mateo Bargagna on the right wing of the penalty box, as Bargagna stepped into a missile of a shot directed right at Beavers' sophomore goalkeeper Jack Wormald to take a 2-0 edge.
Four minutes later, in the 34
th minute, sophomore forward
Mason Shultz held possession in front of the Beavers' penalty box to the right. As the wet surface carried the ball out of bounds, just before it could leave play Shultz sent a perfect through ball to the middle of the box to find
Ethan Feigin, as his one-timer soared past the defense and between the posts to bring the score to 3-0 at the end of the half.
In the 48
th minute, a Shin free-kick that curled over the wall beautifully was deflected by the substitute keeper first-year Jackson Leach high into the air. As the ball fell towards the goal line, Verner was able to get into the right place at the right time as he dove head-first into the rebound, putting his body on the line for his teammates as he finished the opportunity barreling into the left goalpost.
Moments later, Verner found another opportunity to test the first-year keeper. Verner from just outside the 18-yard penalty area on the right wing, rifled a curler towards the near post. The shot would sneak past the Maine-Farmington keeper for Verner's second of the day.
In the 79
th minute, Shultz added another assist as a through ball in the Beavers defensive third split the defense to find sophomore
Luke Randolph who took one touch to settle, and another to slot home his finish to extend scoring to a dominant 6-0 lead.
The final contribution of the day came moments later off an errant pass error in the defense by the Beavers, which was capitalized on by a crisp one-two play from freshman forward
Zack Salfi and
Anthony Bhangdia, as Bhangdia fired home to end the scoring.
The Jumbos outshot the Beavers 28-1 (17-1 shots on goal), as they held most of the offensive pressure for the stretch of 90 minutes. Tufts ended the day without conceding a corner kick, as they held seven corner opportunities of their own.
The Jumbos' clean sheet improves Antic's record to 2-0-1, as the sophomore keeper paired with the Jumbos' defense continues to shine early on in their season.
Jumbo's record this season improves to 2-0-1 as they look to continue their impressive run on Wednesday, September 13
against Wesleyan University (1-0-1, 0-0-1 NESCAC) from Bello Field in Medford, MA.
--JUMBOS—
Written by Sports Information Intern David Cataloni
