Mary Bucci '07

BOX SCORE: Bates 2, Tufts 1 (OT)



SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- Bates College senior Mary Bucci (Norfolk, Mass.) scored 4:49 into overtime to give the Bobcats a 2-1 upset victory at Tufts in the first round of the NESCAC Women's Soccer Championship on Sunday afternoon. The goal was the second of the game and the season for Bucci.

Seventh seed Bates (10-4) advances to the NESCAC semifinals at Amherst next Saturday. The Bobcats will face top-seeded Amherst at 11 a.m.

Second seed Tufts falls to 9-4-2 and awaits a possible at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.

With wind gusts reaching 40 miles per hour howling across Bello Field, the team with the wind at its back had a distinct advantage. Heading into overtime tied at 1-1, Bates won the coin flip to play with the wind. On the game-winning goal, Bucci smartly attempted a shot from 30 yards out that got caught by the wind and sailed into the far corner of the goal.

The statistics alone show the advantage of the wind in the game. With the wind in the first half, Bates had an 10-3 advantage in shots and 8-2 in corner kicks. Bucci gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute by scoring with a header following a corner kick by junior Molly Wagner (Longmeadow, Mass.).

Gaining the wind in the second half, Tufts posted advantages of 15-0 in shots and 6-0 on corners. But the Jumbos still went to under five minutes remaining before tying the score. The Jumbos earned a corner when Bates keeper Mia Lidofsky (Providence, R.I.) could not keep her balance while playing a loose ball and was literally blown over the end line. Jumbo junior Martha Furtek (East Falmouth, Mass.) then curled a corner toward the mouth of the goal, and classmate Lauren Fedore (East Lansing, Mich.) was on the spot to tie the game at 1-1 in the 86th minute.

Both teams got six saves under difficult conditions from their keepers, Lidofsky for Bates and senior co-captain Annie Ross (Newton, Mass.) for the Jumbos.

Bates was without the services of All-America sweeper Meg Coffin (Westford, Mass.), who suffered a knee injury at last weekend's game against Middlebury.

-- Courtesy of Tufts University Sports Information