SPORTS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 tuftsdaily.com

men’s and women’s soccer teams show promise for coming season

EMMA BOERSMA / THE TUFTS DAILY

Last year’s women’s soccer team is pictured huddled before a game on Sept. 11, 2021.

by Arielle Weinstein

Deputy Sports Editor

The soccer program is one of the most successful and storied athletic programs at Tufts. The women’s team consistently has winning records and places highly in the NESCAC, while the men’s team has won four national championships, two of which have been in the last five years. This year looks to be no different as both teams gear up for an exciting season ahead.

After a solid 2021 campaign for the women, they are looking to improve upon last year’s play. The Jumbos finished with an overall record of 8–7 and a conference record of 5–5, earning the No. 6 seed in the NESCAC tournament. At the beginning of the season, Tufts started out strong, winning four out of their first five games and romping New England College 11–0. However, toward the end of the season when conference play got tougher, the Jumbos’ play trended downwards.

Nevertheless, throughout the year the team consistently showed a fighting spirit, as the majority of their games were decided by one goal. In many of the games, the Jumbos dominated possession of the ball but just couldn’t convert on scoring opportunities, which will be a focus point this coming season as they will lose their top scorer from 2021, Liz Reed. Tufts outshot their opponents on the season, 282 to 130, but less than half of those shots were on goal.

“We took a lot more shots than we were able to finish in the back of the net, and I think this year converting the shots into goals will be really important. And especially now that there’s no overtime, we’re going to have to finish more early on,” senior midfielder Maddie Pero said.

This year, the overtime period will be eliminated from regular season play with the rationale being that many of the games that went to overtime in previous seasons stayed tied through overtime. Three of the Jumbos’ games last year went to single or double overtime in order to be decided.

One source of slight concern for the team is that the 2021 starting lineup was dominated by seniors who have now graduated. This won’t faze the Jumbos, as they are prepared to enter the season with a solid lineup.

“I think that we have a very deep team and the freshmen coming in are very confident, and they’re very good at scoring. So I think that even though it’ll be a newer team, I think that the people coming in definitely make up for the … matureness that we lost,” senior forward Claire Wilkinson said.

The Jumbos will open their 2022 campaign against Emerson at home on Wednesday, followed by their conference opener against Connecticut College this weekend. They will then enter a tough stretch, playing five away games with four of them in conference, before returning home for the final stretch of NESCAC contests against Middlebury — the 2021 NESCAC champions — and Bowdoin.

After not gaining a berth in the NCAA championship bracket last year, the Jumbos will look to earn a spot in the round of 64 either through the NESCAC tournament or by obtaining a high enough seed to be selected.

“I think finishing in the top three of the NESCAC is a big goal for us, so that we can hopefully make the NCAA tournament again,” Pero said.

After a successful scrimmage against Clark on Aug. 30, Tufts will look to build off of that momentum and start this season off on the right foot as regular season play begins.

On the men’s side, the Jumbos will hope to build off of a very successful 2021 year where they made a deep run into the NCAA tournament. With an overall record of 15–2–4 and a conference record of 6–1–3, Tufts looked to be heading back to postseason success entering the playoffs. The Jumbos were able to get the No. 3 seed going into the NESCAC tournament. Tufts cruised through Bowdoin in the quarterfinals 3–0 and narrowly edged out Middlebury in the semifinals 1–0. In the championship game however, the Jumbos faced a difficult test. Their opponents were the Connecticut College Camels — a team to which they lost in the regular season — and the Jumbos were looking to avenge that loss. They were able to pull off a 2–0 win to capture the NESCAC championship for the second year running and the third time in four years. The conference win also earned the men’s team an automatic spot and the top seed in the NCAA tournament.

In the NCAA tournament, the Jumbos handily beat New England College 5–1, and then played a thriller in the round of 32 against Stevens. The game went to penalty kicks, which Tufts eventually won after 11 shots each. They made their way to the Elite 8, where once again they found themselves facing Connecticut College. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, their season would end in a 5–4 defeat, putting up a great fight in a heartbreaking loss. Connecticut College would eventually win the national championship.

The Jumbos graduated two AllAmericans in Biagio Paoletta and Calvin Aroh from their 2021 squad as well as top scorer Mati Cano. They will return defenseman Ian Daly, a 2021 All-American and the joint top scorer for the Jumbos. These losses might not affect the Jumbos too drastically, however. During the NESCAC playoff run Coach Kyle Dezotell utilized the entirety of his roster, playing younger players to reserve some of the experience for the NCAA tournament.

“Our team identity has changed quite a bit because we lost so many big name players that our program had, you know. I think for us, everything we do this year is going to be built upon how hard we work, and how hard we’re willing to work,” Coach Dezotell said.

They will build off of this youth as the incoming class of first-years is large and made up of nine players, one of which is a goalkeeper.

“I don’t really think we expect much of a drop-off in terms of level at all. I think, if anything, it’s going to get better with the new guys. Each class that comes in and gets better, better and better every year,” Daly said.

Entering the season, the Jumbos are ranked No. 6 in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. Fellow NESCAC schools Conn. College and Amherst are ranked first and second, respectively.

Like the women, the men will open their season in a nonconference contest, traveling to MIT today. The men’s team’s conference opener will be against Connecticut College at home on Sept. 10 in a game where the Jumbos will hope to avenge the Elite 8 loss from last season.

“They’re a good team and there’s a very fun rivalry we have going on with them. It’s great to see so much success in the NESCAC across the last couple of years. So we’re super excited for that game,” Daly said.

They will then play four conference away games against Wesleyan, Amherst, Williams and Hamilton before returning home to play four out of five of the remaining conference matchups at home.

The 2022 season is shaping up to be an entertaining one. From rivalry matchups to intense conference contests, both teams of Jumbos are ready to face the test.

New and returning volleyball captains talk team culture, upcoming season

by Keila McCabe

Executive Sports Editor

After a historic run last year, the Tufts volleyball team sets sights on its upcoming competitive season with excitement. Despite graduating three pivotal seniors, the team maintains high hopes with the introduction of five new first-years and the return of the remaining roster members. Newly elected captains, junior setter Maddie Yu, senior middle hitter Grace Legris and senior outside hitter and defensive specialist Anna Nachmanoff shared their insights on the team and the season they are eagerly anticipating.

All three captains were elected by their fellow teammates to lead the team on and off the court for the 2022–23 season. Yu, Legris and Nachmanoff all cited leading by example as a pivotal strategy for their personal captainship style. Of the three, Legris is the only returning captain, as she served last season alongside two senior captains. She said returning as a captain is something she is particularly excited about.

“I’m excited to have a second opportunity to lead the team and be more of a vocal presence in the gym and off the court as well,” Legris said. “I want to be someone my teammates can look toward both in a volleyball context or if a social thing comes up and just as a friend to go to.”

The volleyball captain culture, as described by Nachmanoff, is about serving your teammates. Yu, the only junior captain, shared similar sentiments, in addition to her thoughts on being elected by her peers.

“I feel honored to be chosen by my teammates,” Yu said. “Like [Anna Nachmanoff] said, it’s definitely about servanthood and how we can better our team.”

The team started its preseason in late August, having all players arrive early to campus to prepare for the fall. Legris described the structure and shared how the practices have been going so far.

“I think it’s been going well,” Legris said. “We started coach practices last Wednesday. We’ve been doing two-a-days since then. It started off at a fast pace, like everyone is picking it up and we’re running our whole offense. It’s going really well in my opinion. Everyone seems bought in and really focused at practice.”

More specifically, Nachmanoff shared what the team has been honing in on during these past few weeks.

“Ball control wins games,” Nachmanoff said. “That’s definitely our big focus. Also integrating our freshmen into the team both on the court and off the court.”

As many teams do, the volleyball team likes to live by a season slogan. Something short, sweet and hopefully inspirational dictates the direction of the players and team as a whole. The captains shared what this fall’s slogan is and what it means to them.

“[The team motto is] ‘Right here, right now’,” Nachmanoff said. “It has a lot to do with being in the present moment and having big goals but knowing all the smaller steps to get there. We talk a lot about focusing on the process over the result. So just putting in the work each day — right here, right now.”

Legris expanded further on this season’s team motto.

“Also, not focusing too much on the future and what games we have ahead of us, but what we’re working on right now. At the same time, not focusing too much on the past. If you make a mistake, it’s done with.”

The team finished its season with an impressive 21–6 record. Despite losing in the NESCAC tournament to Wesleyan, the Tufts team received an at-large bid to compete in the NCAA tournament. The team advanced all the way to the Elite 8 after defeating the No. 1 seeded team in the country, Johns Hopkins University, in the Sweet 16. Tufts fell short of a national championship, losing to the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire to end the season. Coming off this success story, Yu emphasized the excitement — rather than the pressure — generated by the season’s end.

“Well, obviously it was really exciting to go that far in the tournament,” Yu said. “But, we lost a few players and we have some new ones so I think it’s definitely different and we have to work right here, right now to integrate and create that new team dynamic. So, [it is] obviously very exciting, but we need to focus on what we’re doing in the present moment.”

Finally, with the departure of three seniors and addition of five first-years, the captains spoke on team chemistry and how they are working to unify the new group before their first game.

“We’re doing double days, but in between practices and stuff we’re getting all our meals together,” Nachmanoff said.

Yu highlighted the decrease of COVID-19 restrictions in creating more freedom for the team to engage in bonding activities.

“This is my first season out of COVID, almost fully out of COVID, and my first preseason we’ve been able to go off campus and do bonding activities,” Yu said. “Yesterday we went to Honey Pot Hill Orchards and we went to Boone Lake and got to swim and do stuff outside of Tufts. Before, I hadn’t really [been] able to do that so it feels really good, the team dynamic, because we’re able to have more options and do more things together.”

COURTESY JHU ATHLETICS The Tufts women’s volleyball team celebrates their NCAA Regional Championship win on Nov. 14, 2021.

Tufts baseball stars lead Vermont Lake monsters to best record in Futures Collegiate baseball League

by Ethan Grubelich

Sports Editor

In America, summer means baseball. While players from the NFL, NBA and NHL enjoy their offseason, Major League Baseball is in full swing, with ballparks in major cities across the country hosting games every night. The same can be said for more than 100 Minor League Baseball teams across five different levels of play that take the field on an almost nightly basis from April to September. The market for summer baseball is so big in the U.S. that it’s no surprise that there are opportunities for the best players in college baseball, including those from the Tufts baseball program, to showcase their talents after the spring college baseball season is finished.

At the conclusion of the 2022 NCAA Division III baseball season, Tufts outfielder Jimmy Evans, pitcher Silas Reed and catcher Connor Bowman reunited in Burlington, Vt. to play for the Vermont Lake Monsters of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. From 2011 to 2019, the Lake Monsters competed at the Single-A level of Minor League Baseball in the New York–Penn League. In 2020, the Minor League Baseball season was canceled in response to the COVID19 pandemic and the New York–Penn League was dissolved, prompting the Lake Monsters to join the FCBL in 2021 when play resumed. Evans, a senior, and Reed, a junior, joined the Lake Monsters in the second half of the 2021 season and helped them win the championship in their first season in the league, with Evans being named Championship Series MVP.

After only playing for part of the 2021 FCBL season, the 2022 season gave Evans the opportunity to display his dominance over the course of a complete 64-game regular season, and boy, did he ever. The First Team All-NESCAC outfielder led the 8-team league in runs batted in and was named to the FCBL AllStar team, the Lake Monsters’ MVP and a league MVP finalist, all while leading his team to a league-best 44–19 winloss record. The Lake Monsters cruised to a 2–0 series sweep of Westfield Starfires in the league semifinal but were upset 2–1 by the Nashua Silver Knights in the Championship Series. Evans doubled, walked and scored a run and Reed pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in the decisive Game 3.

Despite the ultimate heartbreak, Evans produced many unforgettable highlights and memories over the course of the 2022 season. One he described is the three-run pinch-hit home run that he demolished to right field in the 7th inning to help the Lake Monsters come back from a nine-run deficit to defeat the Worcester Bravehearts at home on Star Wars night on July 23.

Evans and Reed also improved their games while with the Lake Monsters.

“Learning from all the guys and the coaches, I came up with more of an approach at the plate. … When there’s guys throwing consistently in the 90s, you have to go up there with sort of a plan of attack in every at-bat of what you’re trying to do based on the situation,” Evans said. “It was a long summer. I played 55 games, so going through that daily grind and understanding what it’s like to be like a professional player when you’re going out there every single day really helped me grow mentally and also physically.”

“This summer I threw four pitches for the first time since I’ve been in college, so I think being able to control all four pitches and throw them all at the same time is one way that I’ve improved,” Reed reflected. Another area of growth, he said, was “being able to figure out when things aren’t going my way, like if I’m not controlling my pitches or something, figuring out ways to get back to where I want to be, being able to throw all my pitches for strikes and where I want them to go.”

Lastly, playing in front of the home crowd in Burlington was an exhilarating experience for Evans, and it gave him an exclusive look at what it must be like to be a professional baseball player.

“The atmosphere there is just unbelievable, like something I’ve never been a part of. We get [3,000–5,000] fans almost every game. The fans are unbelievable there. Even on a Tuesday night we’ll get 1,500 people there,” Evans said. “All the guys there are celebrities to the city of Burlington because that’s like their major league team.”

“It was cool being able to be there from day one, experiencing a full season,” he added. “I think I played like 55 games this summer on top of 37 or so with Tufts, so I played around 90 games overall. So that was a lot of fun because it gives you a pro ball experience type thing, when you’re playing a lot of games.”

Evans and Reed each have three years of NCAA eligibility remaining and will play for the Jumbos in 2023. Bowman will also return to the Jumbos in 2023 as a graduate student.