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Teams: Women's Soccer: Team
Overview
►Gamal,
Nolet voted among region's best by NSCAA
►Gamal,
Nolet on All-NESCAC First Team again
The
Tufts University Women's Soccer program is well established in New
England and on the national level. The Jumbos have advanced to two NCAA
Tournament "final fours" under Coach Martha Whiting, now in her 11th
season. The Tufts program's impressive winning tradition includes only
two losing records in 30 years.
Last fall, Tufts went 5-0 in September before a series of injuries
derailed their season.
They went on to post the program's 14th consecutive winning record and
finish fourth in the competitive New England Small College Athletic
Conference (NESCAC). Midfielder Fanna Gamal and defender Sarah Nolet
were both voted All-Conference and All-Region.
In 2007, the Jumbos finished 13-3-2 and earned the program's fifth NCAA
Tournament berth. Midfielder Martha Furtek earned National
Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America honors in
2007 and Cara Cadigan broke the Tufts single-season scoring
record with 19 goals and 45 points that year to lead the NESCAC by a wide margin.
The Tufts program aims to qualify for the NCAA Tournament every season.
The Jumbos have a 10-4-4 overall record in NCAA play. In 2005, Tufts won
the NCAA New England title for the third time and the NCAA Sectional
title for the second time. Tufts hosted the NCAA "final four" on Kraft
Field in 2000, and the Jumbos lost to perennial power College of New
Jersey on a last-second goal in the championship game.
As members of
NESCAC, Tufts belongs to the nation's most competitive small college conference
academically and athletically. NESCAC is a group of highly
selective liberal arts colleges and universities that share an
academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate athletics. Women's soccer
players at Tufts have consistently received recognition for their
academic efforts. The 2008 team compiled an outstanding 3.44 grade point
average and earned an NSCAA Team Academic Award. Four players were on the
2008 NESCAC All-Academic team. Tufts has an outstanding 29-10-6 record
against conference competition in the last five seasons and has finished first or second in
the league in three of the last four seasons.
The Tufts team earned the 100th victory of Coach Whiting's career
in 2007. Her teams have compiled a 109-45-14 record for a .690 winning
percentage. Whiting graduated from Tufts in 1993 after four seasons as
an all-star goalkeeper. She was the team's MVP three times and still
holds the program's records for career saves and fewest goals allowed in
a season. She worked for six seasons as an assistant coach under Bill Gehling and was promoted to head coach when Gehling was named Athletics
Director at Tufts in July 1999. Whiting has National and Advanced
Diplomas from the NSCAA. She was named NSCAA Division III National Coach
of the Year in 2000 and is a two-time NESCAC Coach of the Year
recipient.
Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded collegiate
experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque small-college
campus, Tufts is a major university with "an unprecedented diversity of
programs, exceptional faculty and staff, and bright and talented
students," according to President Lawrence S. Bacow. The Athletics
Department sponsors a varsity program of 28 sports that is among the
most competitive in the NCAA's Division III. Tufts finished 10th in the
2009 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, which awards points based on NCAA
performances. The
University's proximity to a world-class city renowned for its academic
institutions is also a major draw.
Assistant head coach Brienne Smith is in her ninth season at Tufts. She
is a 2001 Clark University graduate and has a master's degree in
physical education from Bridgewater State College. Assistant coach Javier Mejia-Blau is a
2004 graduate of Emerson College, where he was a two-year captain and
assistant coach with the men's and women's teams. He transferred to
Emerson after playing at Division I Hartford. Amy Clair, a 2006 graduate
of Lehigh University, is in her second year as an assistant coach
with the team.
Kraft Field, home to the Jumbos, was a gift to the University made by
New England Patriots and Revolution owner Robert Kraft and his family in
the 1980s. Tufts also has the new Bello Field turf for games and
practices during inclement weather. The Jumbos have an outstanding
62-12-3 record at home this decade.
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