By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's soccer team will travel just north of Boston for its NCAA Division 3 tournament opener.
Tufts University (12-3-3), ranked 20th in the last national poll, will host the Bears (12-2-5) on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Bello Field in Medford.
The winner advances to play Sunday at 1 p.m. against either the University of Rochester or Johnson & Wales University of Providence, R.I.
BSU is making its seventh appearance in the NCAAs after winning the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament on Sunday.
Tufts, which lost to No. 13 Amherst, 1-0, in the New England Small College Athletic Conference final, won four national championships in a six-year span from 2014-19.
The Bears, who last played in the NCAAs in 2018, gathered at the Tinsley Center Monday afternoon to watch the selection show as the 64-team field was revealed.
"It's definitely exciting," said graduate student goalkeeper William Russell (Sandwich, Mass.). "It'll be a big change for all the guys. But I don't think it's anything we can't handle. It's something we've looked forward to all year. But it'll be a challenge."
Said senior forward David Nelson (East Bridgewater, Mass.), "I'm very excited to be in the NCAAs. I think it'll be a great experience for this team and for all the seniors."
The Bears went 6-0-1 to earn the top seed in the MASCAC tournament, then won a pair of games by shutout for the championship and a trip to the nationals.
BSU ended the 2022 season with a bitter loss to Worcester State, falling in the MASCAC final on the sixth penalty kick.
The Bears were determined to get over the hump this fall and they did, losing to only St. Joseph's of Connecticut and Emmanuel. They enter the NCAAs on a 6-0-1 run since Oct. 11.
"One of the things I thought about since the game ended Sunday was some of the stuff the guys have gone through," said coach Brendan Adams. "There was COVID (wiping out the 2020 season), and two years ago, we lost in the semifinals to a really good Framingham team in double overtime. It was an unfortunate loss.
"They kept working at it and the next year we beat Framingham on penalty kicks but then lost to Worcester on penalty kicks in the finals.
"It just wasn't our time at the moment. I said to the guys after the Worcester game, 'We're just not ready yet.' To come into this year, the guys were motivated. We had a good core of guys back and did pretty well. We brought in a good freshman class, a couple of transfers here and there and guys fell into their roles and did a good job."
Nelson is the leading scorer with 28 points (11 goals, six assists) followed by freshman Nicholas Ribeiro (Bellingham, Mass.) with 22 points (six goals, 10 assists). Junior Dominek Borden (New Bedford, Mass.) has 16 points (four goals, eight assists) while sophomore Filippo Mucci (Vineyard, Haven, Mass.) has 15 points (six goals, three assists).
Russell has a 0.84 goals against average with seven shutouts in his final season.
"It's always great to get to the NCAAs," said Adams. "For these guys now, none of them have ever gone so it's all going to be new. What they have to understand is everything is under a microscope. You make a mistake, these are the teams that are going to make you pay.
"If you are cheating the soccer gods in training, these are the games that are going to call you out. They've got to be ready to go. If they adapt pretty quickly, we'll be fine. I think we've got a good group that can adapt on the fly and do a pretty good job of that."
Tufts, which reached the Elite Eight in 2021, lost to Amherst and Middlebury during the regular season before being edged by Amherst in the NESCAC final.
The Jumbos allowed just 15 goals in 18 games with Nikola Antic posting a 0.86 goals against average.
2023 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament Bracket (PDF)