SPORTS

tuftsdaily.com TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2022

The class that changed the women’s lacrosse program

COURTESY MEG HATTON The Tufts women’s lacrosse team wins the 2022 NESCAC Championship over Middlebury on May 8.

by Isaac Karp

Staff Writer

Originally published May 22, 2022. Eight seconds left. Tufts up by one against the best team in the nation with a final free position opportunity for Middlebury’s Hope Shue versus senior Molly Laliberty in goal. The whistle blows, and the ball is blocked out of bounds by the Jumbos’ defense. Game over — Jumbos win the NESCAC Championship. The last time the Brown and Blue faced Middlebury, they got humiliated by a team that looked superior. By the time the NESCAC Championship rolled around, the Panthers were unbeaten for 42 games in a row and ranked No. 1 in the country. The Jumbos had an up and down season after losing some players who graduated in spring 2021. The Class of 2022, who led the program into a new age of national recognition, defeated Middlebury in an epic match and are now on their way to the NCAA playoffs as the hottest team in the country. Since losing to Amherst and Middlebury in early April, the Jumbos have rattled off eight straight wins including the 9–8 NESCAC Championship rematch game against their conference rivals.

The game came down to a final showdown between Laliberty and Middlebury’s attacker Hope Shue, a first-year who had already scored two goals in this game. The defense reached Shue before the Panthers could get to Laliberty, and the ball rolled out of bounds until the clock ran out. The Jumbos threw their sticks into the air and the celebrations began for a team that has been through so much over the past year; all their hard work finally paid off. But it’s not just about what this team has accomplished, it’s the environment that the team has built for the players that truly defines the Tufts women’s lacrosse program.

“It’s pushed me athletically, it’s pushed me mentally, … but I think overall, the team and the group of women that come together on the field is something that also is going to stay with me probably more so than the lacrosse itself,” senior Anna Clarke said.

see LACROSSE, page 18

strength staff raises over $10,000 in first annual sufferfest

by Ananda Kao

Former Executive Sports Editor

Originally published May 22, 2022.

The first ever Strength Staff Sufferfest commenced at 9 a.m. on April 14. Three members of the Tufts Strength and Conditioning staff — Dan Kopsco, Alex O’Keefe and Ethan Bare — participated in a 24-hour long fundraiser to increase the number of people of color entering into the strength and conditioning field.

“Currently, we’re standing number two as far as any athletic department coming out of the winter season in all of Division III,” Director of Sports Performance Coach Kopcso said in a promotional video posted on YouTube and Instagram. “The challenge we’ve come across is in the last two hiring cycles for a strength coach out of more than 100 applications, less than five were people of color. So we racked our brains trying to figure out why this is — what are maybe some of the advantages or opportunities we had that aren’t happening getting some of these people into the field.”

Kopcso and the rest of the staff acknowledged that while there are many athletes of color at Tufts, as well as across collegiate athletics, there are substantial barriers to entry when it comes to the strength and conditioning field. According to Kopcso, often a candidate is required to intern for one to two years, in addition to completing a fellowship program, which means candidates do not get paid enough until a couple years into their careers. The three strength and conditioning coaches hope that by creating this fundraiser, they can begin to break down these barriers and provide more opportunities for people of color.

“We want to create a position where we can pay a really competitive hourly wage and try to pull some of these underrepresented populations into the position because we know once you’ve been a strength and conditioning coach, it is an unreal experience,” Kopcso said in the video. “It’s fulfilling, it’s challenging, you work with future leaders of tomorrow — we’ve got lawyers, doctors, dentists, future politicians all here — and honestly, I think most days we learn as much from them as they learn from us.”

In the promotional video, O’Keefe, the assistant strength and conditioning coach, said that the strength and conditioning staff likes to earn everything they do in the weight room, so they decided to work for all the money they wanted to raise during Sufferfest.

Kopcso committed to doing pull-ups for 24 hours and Bare, an assistant strength and conditioning coach, aimed to do as many squats at 405 lbs in two hours as possible. The varsity athletes voted on the exercise

see STRENGTH, page 18

Men’s soccer claims NesCaC title

by Jack Adgate

Former Assistant Sports Editor

Originally published Nov. 10, 2021.

With victories over Middlebury on Saturday and Connecticut College on Sunday, the Tufts men’s soccer team claimed the NESCAC tournament title. The championship win marks the Jumbos’ third in the last four seasons.

Sunday’s championship game was a defensive battle, with both teams combining for only five shots on goal across 90 minutes.

Tufts junior forward Sean Traynor cracked through early for the Jumbos, scoring an unassisted goal just nine minutes into the first half. Only once in the first half did the Camels threaten Jumbo first-year goalkeeper Erik Lauta, who saved their only shot on goal.

Graduate student midfielder Travis Van Brewer padded the lead for the Jumbos in the second half with another unassisted goal that put things out of reach for the Camels.

The defensive prowess of the Jumbos’ back line came to the forefront in the second half on Sunday. The Jumbos only conceded one shot on goal the entire half.

“Defensively, we could not have been better in these past three games,” Lauta said. “Three shutout wins in the playoffs is a huge accomplishment, and it feels amazing.”

The 2–0 victory marked Tufts’ third straight clean sheet — the team didn’t allow a single goal in the entire NESCAC tournament. The NESCAC crown comes back to Medford for the second straight season (after 2020’s season was canceled), and for the first time under head coach Kyle Dezotell.

In a more back-and-forth semifinal, the difference for Tufts came in a goal from first-year midfielder Ethan Feigin, assisted by fellow first-year Anthony Bhangdia. After a wild first half in which both teams took nearly double-digit shots, Feigin finally cracked through to put the Jumbos ahead. The goal was Feigin’s first of his collegiate career.

“It felt amazing [to score], and there’s truly no better feeling than sprinting over to the corner and celebrating with the whole team,” Feigin said. “I’m really happy I was able to contribute in getting the win.”

Feigin also explained that he was not the only first-year critical to the Jumbos’ success on Saturday.

“[The first-years] really show how every player on the team is capable of making a big impact,” Feigin said. “This weekend, we were unfortunately missing several key players due to injury, and it meant that a lot of us younger guys had to step up and play bigger roles.”

The Tufts back line held strong yet again, keeping a clean sheet despite a rampant Middlebury attack all game. Lauta saved five shots in another spectacular performance in goal.

“What makes this team special is the grit and determination we share,” Lauta said. “No matter the conditions, we always come out hungry to win … Losing simply isn’t an option.”

With one championship in the bag, the Jumbos begin the NCAA Div. III tournament this weekend. Tufts will host New England College in the first round on Saturday at Bello Field.

LACROSSE

continued from page 17

Lehan spoke about the culture of the team for new players coming to Tufts by comparing it to what it was like when she first arrived.

“[Newer players] already see what an established culture looks like of being great, so I think that’s the main difference. We come into every season now with the expectation that we will be number one, and anything less than that is not a failure, but it’s not what we want and not what we expected,” Lehan said.

The senior class who led this team to the back-to-back NESCAC titles and the finals of the NCAA Championship — a class that arrived before Tufts was just beginning to get recognition as a women’s lacrosse powerhouse — includes: Ananda Kao, Madison Lehan, Kathryn Delaney, Mae Briody, Anna Clarke, Colette Smith and Molly Laliberty. Clarke spoke about how the team has gradually gained recognition and support over the course of her time at Tufts.

“Whether it is to the lacrosse community, or to parents, students, [increasing social media presence and recognition] is another step forward that this program has taken. And I think it’s gonna also result in pretty positive things for this team,” Clarke said.

In 2018, Tufts women’s lacrosse had a solid year. The team finished 13–5 but got knocked out of both the NESCAC and NCAA playoffs. When the Class of 2022 came in as first years, the team made a major jump, losing in the NESCAC Championship to Middlebury and making it all the way to the final four of the NCAA Championship before losing to Salisbury.

“In 2019, we were freshmen, so we kind of came in just super blank slate, not really knowing anything. But I think pretty much everyone in the current senior class had opportunities to contribute in really significant ways throughout the season,” Laliberty said.

After coming close to silverware, the Jumbos were ready for another successful season under the helm of coach Courtney Schute. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic cut the 2020 season short, and the Jumbos lost a shot at going all the way. Lehan talked about the lost opportunity.

“[When] we came into that year, our team was super talented, our seniors [were] super talented [and] our team was really honed. I think we were ready to win a national championship. I think we would have done it that year, and to lose that season was so disappointing,” Lehan said.

Despite the loss, Laliberty reflected on how far the team has come since 2020.

“I definitely think that we’ve grown in ways we couldn’t have imagined from having that season taken away from us,” Laliberty said.

After a long hiatus from competitive lacrosse, Tufts returned to Bello Field in 2021. The team won all of its five regular season games and went on to take the NESCAC Championship over Wesleyan in a 14–3 blowout.

The Jumbos cruised to the NCAA Championship, where they played Salisbury in a tight game that they lost by one goal. They fell short again. They also never had to play Middlebury, a team that ran the NESCAC years prior but didn’t compete in 2021 because of the pandemic.

“Just losing by one goal. We know now what it takes to make it there, and I think for our grade, we know that we have everything we need to get there because we’ve done it before,” Lehan said. 2022 offered a return to a normal season for the Jumbos, who lost key attackers like Emily Games. Without a clear idea of who would lead the offense, the Jumbos turned to their younger players to step up, and first-year Margie Carden answered the call. She has scored 51 goals and has a total of 60 points on the season so far. Carden was also awarded NESCAC All-Conference honors. The three other players given this award were seniors Clarke, Laliberty and Lehan.

Defensive Player of the Year Molly Laliberty has led this team’s defense through a great year. Kao and Lehan also make up the core of this unit that has held opposing teams to around eight goals per game, while scoring about 13. They also bring a great deal of energy to their team by stopping opposing teams from playing fluidly. They are leaders in the locker room, steadying the younger players and helping the team work through the ebbs and flows of the season to keep the end goal in mind: winning a national championship.

“Most programs aren’t able to talk about winning a national championship and have it really been a feasible thing. I would say that’s probably one of the biggest changes I’ve seen. But the core of the team and the heart of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it have remained pretty much the same,” Clarke said.

Strength and conditioning coaches raise money through 24 hours of work

STRENGTH

continued from page 17 that O’Keefe, one of the assistant strength and conditioning coaches, would have to do, ultimately deciding on him running treadmill sprints at a 10 degree incline at level 10 speed for as many minutes as he could in 24 hours.

“This is a really original idea for a fundraiser, not something I’ve seen before [and] probably only something that can be thought up by its strength trainers who spend all their days thinking how best to torture athletes to get them stronger,” Ian Daly, a senior defender on the men’s soccer team, said. “When Dan [Kopsco] talked about the issue and talked about what they were raising money towards, it was clearly something he’d put a lot of thought and time into. … Something he’d seen a lot of is lack of representation in this field, … so I thought it was great that they were personally taking the initiative to try and make a change instead of pushing it to other people.”

The strength and conditioning staff raised money through donations as well as pledges. Student-athletes, coaches and staff were encouraged to drop by the weight room throughout the 24 hours to support, cheer, and pledge or donate.

Common pledges included one cent donated per pull up, $1 per minute on the treadmill or a flat amount of money for completing the day of work. Bare even received an additional donation if he did all of his squats while wearing jean shorts, a flannel shirt and a beanie hat.

“I was in there from about midnight to 1 a.m., and they looked like they were in the worst condition I’ve ever seen anyone

IAN LAU / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Tufts Varsity Weight Room is pictured on May 4.

before,” Daly said. “But right when I walked in there, Dan got up and did one pull up. It took him about 15 minutes to do one pull up, but that’s what he was doing. For every person that walked through the door, he’d do one rep.”

After the excruciating 24 hours, Kopcso completed 2,200 pull ups, and O’Keefe ran 48 minutes of treadmill sprints at level 10 speed at a 10 degree incline, which is equivalent to running approximately eight miles at a six-minute mile pace. Bare did 115 squats at 405 lbs for two hours of the fundraiser. Through the day-long fundraiser, just over $10,000 was raised.

However, the success of this fundraiser cannot replace the physical and mental pain endured by Kopcso, O’Keefe and Bare throughout the day.

“It was grueling at times to watch them warm up 15 minutes for five seconds of 10-10s or one pull up, but you could see how much it meant to them to fundraise this money and work towards an issue they care so deeply about,” Daly said.

With the help of the Tufts community’s support, multiple T-shirts and pairs of shoes, as well as snacks and plenty of water and Gatorade, they made it through. The strength trainers hope that this fundraiser will become an annual tradition for Tufts Athletics; however, the format may vary year to year.

Daly explained that it was motivating for the strength and conditioning staff to see the Tufts athletic community come together to cheer them on.

“I think it was nice that so many people were going because it meant they fundraised more money, but also their moods lit up when they saw the student athletes come in,” Daly said. “As much as each team is a family with our coaches, the strength trainers are a part of every one of these teams’ families because they spend so much time with all of us.”

The student-athletes, who were both working out alongside the coaches throughout the day as well as cheering them on, accounted for a large portion of the total amount fundraised.

“I think it was especially great that there were so many student-athletes behind this cause,” Daly said. “You could tell it was something that we cared equally about and was something that we also wanted to fix and maybe more than anything, we just like watching our coaches beat their [bodies] up for a day because they spend so much time beating our bodies up.”