BEVERLY, MA (October 1, 2024) - The Tufts University women's soccer team defeated the Endicott College Gulls in a thrilling 4-1 affair at Jackson Field in Beverly, Mass. on Tuesday afternoon.
The Jumbos (5-2-1), who are prone to hot starts, were all over the Gulls (6-3-2) from the first whistle. Stellar play in the midfield by junior
Caroline Kelly and sophomore
Emily Nicholas made things extremely hard for the home side in the opening minutes. The Jumbos would make use of this early advantage by quickly pressing on the attack.
As a result of that offensive pressure, Tufts won a corner kick. They piled bodies into the Endicott penalty area, and a beautiful cross was played into the box by Kelly, who found junior defender
Lena Sugrue's head. Sugrue's attempted header was denied by the Endicott defense, but the rebound fell right at the feet of sophomore defender
Rachel Arcella, who found herself in the unfamiliar position of a goal scoring opportunity. The defender quickly poked the ball past the diving Gulls goalkeeper Rosalina Caliri. Arcella's shot had just enough power and the perfect positioning to earn her the first goal of her Tufts career, and gave the Jumbos a 1-0 lead within 10 minutes.
Endicott was far from pleased with the early score by the Jumbos, and were able to muster an impressive counter-attack right off of the restart. The Gulls worked their way down the field, and Morgan Hubert played a threatening cross into the Jumbos penalty area. An unmarked Michelle Donahue was on the other side of the cross, and she cooly touched the ball up and in past sophomore goalkeeper
Gigi Edwards, who was caught with very little time to react to Donahue's shot. The Gulls had found their equalizer merely seconds after Tufts had opened the scoring.
The Jumbos were slightly shocked, but did not allow the unexpected equalizer to deter their attack. Junior
Elsi Aires was a constant threat through the first half, putting up three shots in the opening 45. Sophomore midfielder
Reese Birch was strong in the opening half as well, threatening to score with a shot that was just barely blocked by the Endicott defense.
The Jumbos would try with all their might to score again within the opening frame, but the Gulls defense just barely managed to hang on to the 1-1 stalemate.
The second half saw a rejuvenated Jumbos squad take the field. Two and a half minutes into the latter half of play, sophomore
Waverly Sumner would capitalize on the high pressing Tufts defense by using her high position to win a misplayed ball by the home side. A few dribbles towards the goal and a composed shot saw Sumner break the deadlock, beating Caliri to her right as the Jumbo regained the lead.
The Jumbos were far from finished. Smelling blood in the water, the visitors ramped up the intensity even more. Senior defender
Caroline O'Neill and her centerback counterpart Sugrue were rock solid through the second half, limiting the Gulls to only eight shots in the second half, with only three of those shots needing a save from Edwards.
Bolstered by the strong defense, the offense went back to work in the attacking third. Graduate student
Nicola Sommers stepped up to take a throw-in deep in the Gulls end of the pitch. A long throw into the penalty area found a leaping Birch, who nodded the ball along to a wide open Aires in the center of the box. Aires wasted no time, pounding a volley past Caliri and into the top right of the goal. A fantastic effort from the junior striker, good for her fourth goal of the season, and the third Tufts goal of the match.
Waves of substitutes from both sides even out through the middle of the half, but the Jumbos would score one more in the death throes of regulation. Senior
Juliana Rosen made it a 4-1 game after she scored off of a beautiful team goal that saw the Jumbos march down the pitch. Junior
Anna Griffin was the penultimate piece of the Jumbos' scoring puzzle, as she crossed the ball right to the eagerly awaiting head of Rosen. A simple header past Caliri, and Rosen had her first goal of the season, leaving only a minute and a half on the clock for the Gulls to respond.
With very little time remaining, Endicott was unable to mount a meaningful counterattack, and would cede a 4-1 victory to Tufts after the final whistle sounded at the 90 minute mark.
The Jumbos will be back in action this weekend, making a much awaited return to Bello Field to host a NESCAC match against the visiting Trinity College (Conn.) Bantams. Kick off is at noon in Medford.
--JUMBOS--
