EWING, NJ (November 12, 2023) -- The Tufts University women's soccer squad got two goals from senior
Nicola Sommers, and the defense did the rest as the Jumbos moved into the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament Sweet 16 with a 3-0 victory over No. 15 College of New Jersey in play from Lion Stadium Sunday.
The Jumbos (9-5-4) will now take on a familiar foe in the next round, as No. 22 Bowdoin College defeated previously unbeaten No. 7 William Smith in the NCAA Second Round to set up another tilt with the Polar Bears. The location of that game is still be to be determined.
Tufts wasted no time getting on the board at the 7:07 mark of the contest, as
Elsi Aires had a shot blocked that resulted in a corner kick. On the corner kick,
Caroline Kelly put a perfect delivery right onto the head of Sommers, and she split two defenders down the middle of the goal to make it 1-0.
Sommers had another great chance in the 15th minute, as her step overs cleared her to rip a left-footed shot that was saved by the Lion goalkeeper. That would be the final good chance of the first half for either team, as the game went to halftime with Tufts up 1-0.
In the second half, TCNJ (16-3-1) had their first shot of the half from 20 yards out but a Emma Pascarella shot was gobbled up by
Gigi Edwards for the Jumbos. Minutes later,
Thalia Greenberg had a header on the back post but her attempt was off the football upright.
The Jumbos would get the second goal they were looking for in the 56th minute, as Aires chased down a long ball on the right side of the box and curled a gorgeous left-footed shot into the top left corner of the goal to make it 2-0. The lead would swell to 3-0 only 32 seconds later for Tufts, as Sommers got a pass from Aires and skimmed a shot right under the crossbar for the insurance tally.
The defense for the Jumbos would take over from that point though, holding the Lions to just three shots through the final 40 minutes of the game in cruising to the victory. TCNJ had never trailed by three goals all season coming into the contest, and came into the weekend ranked seventh in the nation in scoring with 3.95 goals per game.
Tufts almost had a fourth goal in the 78th minute, but
Casey Lam had her attempt rattle off the crossbar and out. Despite that, it was plenty as Tufts moved into the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. That season Tufts also defeated TCNJ in the NCAA Second Round in Ewing, NJ with a score of 2-0. It's also the second trip to the NCAA Third Round since the 2006 season.
The Jumbos posted a 19-10 edge in shots on Sunday afternoon, including a 13-5 edge in the second half, while also earning nine corner kicks to just the four from the Lions. Greenberg, Aires and Sommers all had four shots for Tufts, while Edwards stopped four shots for third shutout of the season.
Bella Norman stopped three shots in 90 minutes for TCNJ, while Pascarella fired three attempts to pace the Lions.
Log onto gotuftsjumbos.com late Sunday night or Monday to find out where the Jumbos will be in the NCAA Sweet 16.
--JUMBOS--
