2008 Woodie Awards
Men's soccer battles back, ties Tufts
Zak Starr
Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: Sports
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The game began with the Mules coming out uncharacteristically flat, and Tufts took advantage. The Jumbos jumped out to their 2-0 halftime lead behind senior forward Greg O'Connell, who scored in the 20th minute and again in the 30th minute.
Colby looked overwhelmed, while the Jumbos looked strong heading into the half. But the Colby men turned it around. "It was a tale of two halves," midfielder Mike Butler '08 said.
As the second half began, it became clear that there was a change in the Mules. They were winning balls both in the air and on the ground by outworking the Jumbos. The increased work rate from the start of the half put the Tufts players back on their heels as the Colby team began to attack.
The charge of the Mules led to goals about 10 minutes into the second half. The first goal came as speedy forward Todd Boertzel '09 flew past his man and toward the end line before playing a beautiful cross to midfielder Logan King '09, who sent the ball into the back of the net from six yards out and sent the crowd into a frenzy. Within a minute, Colby struck again. This time, the Tufts goalkeeper attempted to kick clear a rolling ball near the edge of his 18-yard box. Hustling forward Scott Brown '10, however, blocked the kick, beat the swarm of Tufts players to the loose ball, and netted the tying goal for his first NESCAC goal in his first career start.
Following the flurry of scoring, Colby continued to outwork Tufts but could not put away any chances. At one point, King's bid for a second goal hit the crossbar; though forward Nate Sieberling '11 was able to head the rebound toward the empty net, a Tufts defender came sliding across the goal mouth to knock it away. Colby ended regulation after taking a staggering 14 shots in the second half, compared to 5 in the first half. Representative of Colby's impassioned effort in the second half was defenseman Matt Shatkin '09 suffering a dislocated shoulder, only to have it reset and return to the field 15 minutes later.
After an overtime in which both teams were clearly fatigued from the hot conditions, the game ended in a 2-2 tie. The Mules did not get a mark in the victory column, but the performance was encouraging. "We showed good character," captain Jamie Waters '08 said of the team's comeback. "It was promising for the rest of our season."
The Colby team will be making the short trip to Bowdoin on Saturday for a heated contest with the rival Polar Bears at 1:30 p.m.
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