The Tufts Daily - Thursday, March 12, 2026

Women’s lacrosse takes first loss of the season in overtime

Leanna DeSousa Staff Writer

The Tufts women’s lacrosse team has entered this season with high expectations, both from themselves and from the lacrosse world, after an impressive season last year in which they became NESCAC champions and advanced to the NCAA championship game, where they ultimately lost to Middlebury College.

“This is obviously a very new group with a lot of fresh faces but our goals are the exact same. Become the best versions of ourselves [and] win every possible game we can, including the NESCAC and [national championship],” senior attacker Allie Zorn wrote in a message to the Daily.

The Jumbos opened the season with a top five conference matchup against No. 3 Colby College, setting the tone for the year with a 16–11 victory over the Mules. They then hosted the Western Connecticut State Wolves on Bello Field, winning 19–2.

“Our commitment to a full team effort allows us to bring out the best in each other in practices, games and off the field,” senior midfielder Kate Deehan wrote in a statement to the Daily. This full-team effort was showcased by the fact that 11 different Jumbos, six of whom were rookies, scored in the game against the Wolves, displaying the impressive depth of the team’s bench.

With this momentum, Tufts traveled to Amherst, Mass., on Saturday to take on No. 13 Amherst College. The Mammoths entered the game prepared to meet that challenge, winning the first draw control and scoring less than 30 seconds later. The draw control was a crucial aspect of the game, providing the Mammoths with the majority possession in the first quarter as they won seven of the eight draw controls in the frame. Fortunately, Tufts’ defense

Beyond the Sidelines

As NFL general managers are in full trade mode for this off season, perhaps one of the most discussed topics is whether the Philadelphia Eagles are going to trade star wide

was able to gain possession for the Jumbos.

After 10 minutes, Amherst had added three more goals while Tufts had scored only one, from junior attacker Sophia Claps, assisted by Deehan. Two goals, one from firstyear attacker Eleanor Helm and one from Deehan, narrowed Amherst’s lead to one by the end of the quarter.

Tufts used the second quarter to take the lead, beginning to win more draw controls and gain more possession. Deehan used an early free-position opportunity to equalize. Less than five minutes later on another free-position chance, sophomore midfielder Neta Leschley gave the Jumbos their first lead of the game with a dodge inside and a low shot. Shortly after Amherst scored to match Tufts’ five goals, the Jumbos added three unanswered goals to reach an 8–5 lead going into halftime. The Jumbos took advantage of the Mammoths’ zone defense by feeding the ball to

receiver A.J. Brown. As an Eagles fan, I might be a little biased in stating his popularity, but where he goes (if he leaves) has the potential to affect the preparation for all NFL head coaches for next season.

If you’re educated on the topic, then you’re probably as fed up as I am with all the jabber about where he is going to go, if he goes and what happens if he stays.

So, I say, trade him.

players cutting inside the 8-meter, as each of the final three goals of the half was assisted.

The beginning of the second half was heavily contested, with turnovers from each side. Eventually, after almost four minutes of backand-forth play, Amherst was able to find the back of the net. Tufts’ defense applied intense pressure on the Amherst attackers, and sophomore goalkeeper Devon Chipman displayed excellent reflexes, limiting the Mammoths to only one more goal during the third quarter. The Jumbos then scored four more goals, extending their lead to 12–7.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the victory seemed secure for the Jumbos until Amherst scored three unanswered goals within the first three minutes. Tufts scored its lone goal of the quarter about halfway through, as Deehan earned her fourth goal of the game. Amherst scored two more goals to narrow Tufts’ lead to one. With about a

The Eagles may have had a winning record this past season, but by no means was it the same team that won Super Bowl LIX. Personally, this season was a hand-on-the-shaking-head, disappointed parent kind of watch. Brown had the same reaction.

Brown very explicitly vocalized his frustrations with not being thrown the ball enough through ominous social media posts, press interviews and a brutally honest Twitch stream where he told fans who had him in fantasy to drop him. Then, during the first round of the 2026 playoffs against the San Francisco 49ers, he had two critical, potentially game-changing drops. Maybe the drops were due to lack of practice, but after all the complaining, it was exasperating to watch as a fan.

Brown has a sign above his locker that reads “Always Open,” and similarly, his Instagram handle is @1k_alwaysopen, showing that he is an open book. He is

minute left, an Amherst shot deflected off the goalpost, resulting in a heavily contested battle for the ball that caused the referees to blow the whistle with 31 seconds remaining. After a long conversation between the referees and the table, they ruled that Amherst had possession. Amherst attacker Bridget Finley scored with four seconds left after a seemingly broken-up play to force the game into overtime.

Amherst won the crucial draw control to begin overtime, and a green card was issued to Tufts, leaving the Jumbos down a player for one minute. Amherst then opted to take a time out. Attacker Emily Petersen took advantage of the defense being down a player, cutting toward the goal and barely catching the feed from attacker Kate Becker behind the goal before shooting it past Chipman to complete the upset victory.

Deehan had four goals and one assist, Leschley had three goals

honest about his feelings in the media, which is very rare in the NFL. For this reason, I think he should be traded: He is making too much noise.

At the beginning of the season when a reporter asked if he was “the same player” as last season due to his slow start, his response was, “I guess Saquon [Barkley] ain’t the same player either, then.” Football is a team sport, meaning there needs to be unity within the team. In what way does this deflective, defensive response add to this unity? Head coach Nick Sirianni’s fundamental philosophy when coaching is connection within the team to create strong bonds, and I can’t imagine Brown’s statement improved the connection between them. And when the head coach and a player aren’t on the same page, it leads to a disconnect on the field (as evidently shown).

His recent positive statements about the new offensive

and one assist, junior midfielder Schuyler Lloyd led the team with three assists and one goal and sophomore attacker Anna Mollahan also scored two goals and recorded an assist. Junior midfielder Grace Hammond and senior midfielder Elsa Schutt led the team on the circle with four and three draw controls, respectively. Chipman had an impressive nine saves in the cage.

“Saturday was definitely a tough loss but it was good to learn and reflect. Going into MIT we really wanted to dictate pace and execute on our offensive and defensive goals and principles,” Zorn wrote.

Tufts bounced back in its game against MIT on Tuesday, winning 17–6.

The Jumbos will take on the University of Chicago at home this weekend before turning to No. 6 Gettysburg College the following Wednesday.

coaching staff, his commitment to quarterback Jalen Hurts and how Philadelphia is his home are too little, too late for me. His actions and words during the season are contrasting his statements now despite saying the picture has been painted incorrectly. How the player acts during the season is much more defining than how they act when everything is all said and done. Brown might find that the grass is greener on a different team but, with him gone, it allows the Eagles to have stability. You never know what was going to come out of Brown’s unpredictable mouth in the press, with his emotions getting the best of him at times. The Eagles may finally be able to get on the same page without distractions and, when that happens, they might be surprised with what they find: renewed chemistry.

Anjali is a first-year who has yet to declare a major. Anjali can be reached at anjali.mishra@tufts.edu