Jones Scores Lone Goal as Jumbos Take Apart Engineers

MEDFORD, MA (October 1, 2025) - The number six ranked Tufts University Women's Soccer team had quite a test against the number 12 ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology as they fought hard for a 1-0 win on Bello Field against the Engineers on Wednesday evening.

The Jumbos (7-0-1) were pushed back into their own end early on in the game as the Engineers (5-1-2) deployed their own tactics from the start. Tufts is a very strong team when working in tight spaces together. The Engineers clearly knew this, and did everything they could to spread the field as wide as each sideline. 

Tufts was put to work, and their defensive press required even more effort as the Engineers continued to spread the field wider and wider. The Jumbos were able to impact the game in their own way, with their speed on the wings helping to relieve the pressure after they wrestled possession back from their visitors. Junior Waverly Sumner and first year Jordyn Miller did a great job at carrying the ball into the attacking third, but the Jumbos would get stuck in the mud after they got there.

To the Engineer's credit, their defense collapsed quickly and effectively to close off the dangerous areas of the pitch, and the Jumbos found several of their cross attempts bouncing off of a lunging body in front before it even reached a teammate. The chances would come, although it wouldn't be in the first half. 

Junior goalkeeper Gigi Edwards was called into action twice in the first half, making both saves to keep the visitors off the board. The second half would not see her have to make any saves, as the Jumbos defense did a fantastic job to shut down the Engineers' attack. 

MIT was able to keep the pressure on the Jumbos to open the second half, but in the 70th minute the home team flipped the script. A beautiful dribbling move by Sumner allowed sophomore Maren Jones to work into wide open space on the weak side. Sumner followed up her agile dribbling with a perfectly weighted through ball to Jones, who took it in stride before firing into the far post for the first goal of the game.

After taking the 1-0 lead, the Jumbos focused on seeing out the result. MIT launched several desperate attacks into their attacking third, but the Tufts defense, led by senior center back Lena Sugrue, was able to keep the ball away from Edwards until the final whistle. With a 1-0 victory over a ranked opponent, the Jumbos extended their season-opening unbeaten streak to eight games.

Tufts will take a quick break before they head down to Connecticut to take on Trinity College in a weekend NESCAC faceoff at noon.