MEDFORD, MA (November 1, 2025) -- The top-ranked and No. 1 seed Tufts University men's soccer team scored in the 76th minute on a penalty kick, and held off a late push by visiting Bates College to earn a 1-0 win in the 2025 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Quarterfinals on Bello Field Saturday.
With the victory, Tufts (12-1-3) will now host the NESCAC Tournament Semifinals and Finals November 8-9 on Bello Field. The Jumbos will take on No. 6 seed Middlebury College after the Panthers knocked off Bowdoin 2-1 Saturday, while the other semifinal will feature No. 2 Wesleyan University and No. 5 Connecticut College. Wesleyan won 3-2 over No. 7 seed Amherst College, while CC defeated No. 4 seed Williams 2-1.
It wil be the first time since 2017 that the Tufts men's soccer team has hosted the semifinals and finals, a year that saw the Jumbos earn the NESCAC title with a 1-0 victory over Middlebury.
The Jumbos had to work though to get the result against an up-and-coming Bates College team that looked the part in the opening 20 minutes. Bates nearly opened the scoring in the sixth minute on a penalty corner, but a header from Noah Greiff whizzed high.
Tufts got its footing in the 15th minute, and had its best chances in the 19th minute as in-close attempts by
Xavier Canfin and
Henry Perkins were stopped by Bobcats' keeper George Nassar.
In the 36th minute, Canfin had a chance that went just wide of the left post. Minutes later,
Gianluca Fallone had a great look at goal but his attempt was stopped by an arm of a Bates' defender and cleared to send the game to intermission scoreless.
After halftime, Tufts kept the pressure on and had multiple good looks at goal before finally getting the breakthrough in the 76th minute. After a corner kick, the ball wound up in the box and as
Taylor Feinberg looked to gather the ball, a loose ball went off the hand of a Bobcat defender to give Tufts a penalty. On the shot, senior
Daniel Yanez put away the spot kick to give the Jumbos the lead. For Yanez, it was his fourth goal in the last six games, all coming on penalties.
Bates tried to get back in the game but only could manage one shot down the stretch as the stingy Tufts defense held on for the shutout victory. The clean sheet was senior goalkeeper
Nikola Antic's ninth of the season, which tied him for fourth-most in a season at Tufts with Scott Greenwood (2015) and Conner Mieth (2018). His 23 shutouts also are now second all-time at Tufts behind only the 32 from Greenwood.
Tufts outshot its visitors 17-6 on the day, including a 7-1 edge in shots on goal, while both teams managed to earn five corner kicks. Canfin had four shots attempts and three on goal to lead all players.
Game times for the semifinals and finals will be announced in the coming days on gotuftsjumbos.com and NESCAC.com.
--JUMBOS--
