The Tufts Daily
38
Sports
Commencement 2012
Fall and Winter Sports Recaps Men’s Cross Country The men’s cross country team earned its first nationals berth since 2007 this past fall and went on to place ninth at the NCAA Championships in Winneconne, Wisc. Disappointing fifth-place finishes at the NESCAC and Div. III New England Championships were still enough to earn the runners a trip to nationals, and the Jumbos certainly saved their best for last, as all five runners crossed the line of the 8,000-meter course in personal record times. Rising senior Matt Rand led the squad at NCAAs, as he did throughout the season, earning All-American honors with a 19th-place finish. The Jumbos ranked third among the five NESCAC teams at NCAAs. At the regional championship, Rand took third, earning AllRegion honors for the second consecutive year, while classmate Kyle Marks secured those accolades for the third time. Rising junior Brian McLaughlin earned his first All-Region distinction by finishing in the top 35. McLaughlin’s classmates Liam Cassidy, Andrew Shapero and Ben Wallis and graduating senior co-captain Connor Rose rounded out the regional and national squad.
Women’s Country
Cross
The women’s cross country team enjoyed a successful fall that included first-place finishes at the Maine Invitational and the Mayor’s Cup, a thirdplace finish at ECACs and fifth place out of 51 teams at the New England Div. III Championships. That last effort qualified the squad for nationals for the first time in six years. At NCAAs, the Jumbos came in 20th place. Graduating senior tri-captain Anya Price and rising senior tri-captain Lilly Fisher led the way all season. At New Englands at Bowdoin on Nov. 12, Price placed 23rd, a huge boost in helping the team finish fifth. Fisher and rising junior Madeleine Carey took 34th and 35th, respectively, at the event and earned All-Region honors along with Price. Fisher and Carey’s success is a good sign for Tufts looking ahead to next fall, when the pair will try to lead the team to even greater heights within the conference. Tufts placed fourth at the NESCAC Championships at Amherst on Oct. 29.
rienced Tufts squad, which sometimes fielded a lineup comprised primarily of freshmen, finished in the top half of the conference for the first time since 2003, was perfect in non-conference matches for the first time since 2002 and was at one point ranked as high as fifth in New England. The Jumbos finished in fifth place in the NESCAC, posting a solid 5-4-2 mark against conference foes and a 9-4-2 record overall. Moreover, just two years removed from an ugly 2-10-2 campaign, the team displayed an ability to compete with and beat the traditional NESCAC powerhouses. Tufts topped Williams in front a raucous Kraft Field crowd on Homecoming behind two goals from rising sophomore forward Maxime Hoppenot and came back to tie Middlebury in the first match of the season after a late strike from rising junior forward Jono Edelman. Although the Jumbos are losing five seniors to graduation, including two tri-captains in goalkeeper Alan Bernstein and midfielder Matt Blumenthal, they should be even better next season with the arrival of Shapiro’s second crop of elite freshman recruits and the maturation of this past season’s first-years. Rising sophomore midfielder Gus Santos, the reigning NESCAC Rookie of the Year and a First-Team AllConference selection, should continue to lead the way.
Women’s Soccer The women’s soccer team hit the ground running in 2011, starting off 3-0-2 and finishing with a 7-4-4 record in a season that ended in penalty kicks in the NESCAC quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. Despite the heartbreaking loss, which marked the end of six seniors’ careers, there were many bright spots, especially graduating senior Jamie Love-Nichols and rising senior
Men’s Soccer Despite a disappointing loss to Williams in the NESCAC quarterfinals to end its 2011 campaign and dash its NCAA tournament aspirations, the men’s soccer team made great strides in its second season under head coach Josh Shapiro. The relatively inexpe-
Alyssa Von Puttkammer, who led Tufts with 10 points apiece. At the other end of the field, goalkeeper Kristin Wright stood tall between the pipes, starting all 15 games during her sophomore campaign and posting an .868 save percentage. Tufts outscored opponents 21-13 on the season and enjoyed success in several big conference games, including a regular season victory over NESCAC semifinalist Wesleyan and a 2-2 draw in its season opener against second-seeded Middlebury. In the fall, head coach Martha Whiting will return three of her top five scorers, as well as Wright in goal. Rising juniors Maeve Stewart, Sophie Wojtasinski and Anya Kaufmann will join Von Puttkammer in the attacking end, while a strong corps of returning defenders will hold its ground in front of Wright. The Jumbos appear to have the talent to finally push past the opening round of the conference tournament come October.
Football In the football team’s ashes, there’s life. The Jumbos went 0-8 in head coach Jay Civetti’s inaugural season, plagued by a disappointing offense that averaged just 9.4 points per game, but a rejuvenated attitude leaves hope for the future. In the fall, Tufts will return a loaded secondary ripe with experience, a unit that is hoping to take a team that’s gone 3-21 over the past three seasons to the next level. Not that getting through this year was easy. The Jumbos lost every game for the first time since 1886, starting with a 24-16 loss to Hamilton and ending with their closest defeat of the season, a 19-17 heartbreaker versus Middlebury at Ellis Oval, when the Panthers scored 19 fourth-quarter points and capped the comeback with a game-winning, twoyard touchdown run with two seconds remaining. Tufts also took then-undefeated Trinity to the brink in a 9-0 loss on Homecoming. Although the offensive highlights were few and far between, four Jumbos were named to the All-NESCAC squads. Graduating senior linebacker Zack Skarzynski led the league in tackles and earned second-team honors alongside rising senior defensive back Sam Diss. Rising senior Dylan Haas, the team’s leading receiver with 436 yards on 38 catches, was named to the second team as a return specialist and was joined by graduating senior kicker Adam Auerbach, who set Tufts’ all-time field goal record late this past season.
Field Hockey The field hockey team knew the 2011 season would be difficult after it graduated five starters, including the most prolific starter in program history, Tamara Brown (LA ‘11). But while the Jumbos missed the NESCAC semifinals for the first time since 2005 and failed to receive an NCAA bid for the first
time in six years, the campaign was far from a failure. The team went 7-3 in conference action and 11-4 overall, scoring 54 goals along the way for an average of 3.6 per game — just 0.11 shy of eventual national runner-up Middlebury — while allowing only 16 all season. The Jumbos proved they had the offensive depth to rebuild after such a large departure, and they will need to do it again after they say goodbye to another talented senior class. Co-captains midfielder Lindsay Griffith and defender Taylor Dyer, as well as goalkeeper Marianna Zak and defender Sarah Cannon, will be sorely missed. Dyer, a two-time All American and former NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year, has controlled Tufts’ backfield for four years. Behind her, Zak put together the most successful four-year starting career for a Jumbos goalie with a 59-10 record in the cage in 4,443 minutes. Griffith, an All-NESCAC and AllNew England selection, was the quarterback of Tufts’ potent offense and the most skilled ball handler on the field for the Jumbos this season. Ultimately, the Class of 2012 will be a tough one for head coach Tina McDavitt to lose, as she looks to return Tufts to the national runner-up heights it reached when the graduating seniors joined the team in 2008.
Volleyball The 2011 season was yet another strong one for the volleyball team, which compiled a 26-6 overall record while reaching the NCAA tournament for a fourth straight year before falling in the second round to Springfield. This fall also marked Tufts’ fourth season in a row with at least 20 wins under head coach Cora Thompson. Thompson’s recruiting prowess was on display this season, as it became clear from the first match that the firstyears would play a key role. A tall class of rising sophomores made for a ferocious attack — outside hitters Kelly Brennan, Izzy Kuhel and Hayley Hopper combined for a tremendous 881 kills and were all named to the New England Women’s Volleyball Association (NEWVA) All-Rookie team. Experience also contributed to Tufts’ success: Graduating senior tri-captains Audrey Kuan — who is also the executive online editor for the Daily — Cara Spieler and Lexi Nicholas were rock solid all season long, while rising senior setter Kendall Lord averaged more than 10 assists per game to lead the NESCAC. Lord was named to the All-NEWVA First Team and was the NESCAC Co-Player of the Year. With Lord continuing to feed Brennan, Kuhel and Hopper next season, the Jumbos appear primed for a big 2012 campaign.
Men’s Basketball Kevin Gilchrist Pitcher
This year marked a historic season for the men’s basketball team. The Jumbos, with a 16-9 overall record and 6-4 confer-
photos by virginia Bledsoe, William Butt and Scott Tingley
Kate Barnosky Forward ence mark, enjoyed the
most w i n s for the program and first NESCAC tournam e n t h o m e g a m e since 2006 after earning the No. 4 seed. Though the team made an e a r l y p l a y off exit with a 57-54 loss to visiti n g No. 5 Bates, Tu f t s looks poised for unprecedented success in the coming years. T h e Jumbos will say goodbye to their b e s t p o s t
defender in tri-captain James Long and most dominant rebounder in Alex Orchowski, but they will return a gifted group of underclassman. Tricaptain forward Scott Anderson, a rising senior who earned AllNESCAC accolades this past year, will continue to lead the young Jumbos as they look to maintain a surge that has spanned the last three winters. Rising sophomore Ben Ferris, who was named NESCAC Rookie of the Year, is one of several young, talented guards on the squad. Ferris, along with classmate C.J. Moss and rising juniors Kwame Firempong, Tom Folliard and Oliver Cohen, helped make the 2011-2012 campaign a major stepping stone for a team on its way to NESCAC contention.
Women’s Basketball The women’s basketball team enjoyed one of its finest seasons in program history, finishing with a 23-7 record, good for second in the NESCAC, and making an appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. Coming off a victory against Johns Hopkins in the second round of the tournament, Tufts nearly upset St. Thomas but fell 50-47 as a result of miscommunications late in the fourth quarter. Tufts thrived all season thanks to its stifling defense, which was anchored by graduating senior and NESCAC Defensive