Women's Soccer Takes Season Opener with 2-1 Win Versus Williams

MEDFORD, MA (September 6, 2025) - The Tufts University women's soccer team showed grit and resolve across a 90 minute New England Small College Athletic Conference contest against the Williams College Ephs on Saturday afternoon at Bello Field.

The Jumbos (1-0-0, 1-0-0 NESCAC) started strong, possessing the ball well and containing the Ephs (1-1-0, 1-1-0 NESCAC) within their own half. The midfield trio of senior Caroline Kelly and juniors Reese Birch and Emily Nicholas was suffocating the Ephs attack, hemming them within their own end and allowing the Tufts offense to go to work early.

At the tip of the spear for the Jumbos was senior Elsi Aires, and while she saw plenty of the ball during the opening frame, the Ephs defense was ready for her dynamism and held her off the scoresheet. With the attention directed towards the center of the pitch, the wingers were free to move in behind the Williams defense. Junior Waverly Sumner and senior Juliana Rosen were essential to the Jumbos' progression down the field. Both were able to use their speed to work the ball deep into the attacking third, but the Williams defense held strong up the middle and parried away their repeated crossing efforts.

The Jumbos held the majority of the possession for the first half, but it would be Williams who found the back of the net first. The chances had been few and far between for the Ephs, so when they got an opportunity off of a corner kick, they made the most of it. The visitors created loads of chaos right on the doorstep of junior Gigi Edwards' goal. Amidst the chaos they were able to poke the ball past Edwards, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead against the grain of play. 

The half ended without the Jumbos finding the back of the net, but after the break it was clear that a new Tufts team had taken the pitch. The passing was more crisp throughout the second frame, leading to even more possession for the Jumbos and opened up their opponent for scoring chances. 

Last year's leading goal scorer, Elsi Aires, found the ball alone on the top of the Williams penalty area after Reese Birch forced a bad pass out of the Williams defense. A touch to open up space and a shot were all she needed to tie the game and tally her first goal of the new year. 

The Jumbos, having scored their first goal of the year, clearly had a weight lifted off their shoulders by the prolific striker, and the confidence reflected in their play. Tufts was back to their suffocating style of play, giving Williams absolutely no space to play the ball. About five minutes after the Aires opening goal, the Jumbos found their tiebreaker.

Kelly played a short corner to Birch, who turned and picked up her head, quickly identifying a wide-open Lena Sugrue on the top of the penalty area. Birch slid a perfect cross to the eagerly awaiting senior center back who wasted no time in unleashing a one-time shot off of a defender and into the back of the net. The Jumbos had their lead, and with 20 minutes to go it was a simple job of seeing out the affair.

The Jumbos would hold on despite a late frenzy by the Ephs and managed to take home the season-opening NESCAC win 2-1.

The Jumbos will be back in action for their first midweek game and their first road test as they head to Weston, Mass. for a Wednesday evening game at Regis College.