COLLEGE MEN'S
LACROSSE FINAL SCORE
Tufts 10, Williams 9
At Medford, MA
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Game
Box Score
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Junior Matt Witko scored the game-winner with
5:58 left in the fourth
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MEDFORD -- Junior Matt Witko (Chappaqua, NY)
scored four goals, including the game-winner with 5:58 remaining in
the fourth quarter to decide an outstanding NESCAC men's lacrosse
game in favor of ninth-ranked Tufts over Williams by a 10-9 score
on a brisk Saturday afternoon at Bello Field.
Tufts remained undefeated (5-0, 3-0 NESCAC) with their second
straight 10-9 win in NESCAC, including last Saturday's final at
Colby. The Jumbos never trailed against Williams (3-2, 2-1 NESCAC),
but they never led by more than two goals. Junior D.J. Hessler (Monkton, MD) added three goals to the Tufts
attack, while senior co-captain Richard Reuter (Ridgewood, NJ)
finished with two goals and two assists for Williams.
The hosts led 2-1 after one quarter, and pushed the lead to 4-2
on Hessler's first at 7:50 of the second quarter. The Ephs tied it
at 4-4 with back-to-back goals, including Reuter's on a man-up
situation at 2:27. Tufts senior tri-captain Mike Droesch
(Setauket, NY) scored with 58 seconds remaining until
halftime to put the Jumbos up 5-4 at intermission.
Hessler, who won last week's game at Colby with a man-down goal,
scored another to put Tufts up 6-4 early in the third. Williams
came back to tie it again, with junior Corey Jacobs (Somers, CT)
scoring his second of the game at 6:21 for a 6-6 deadlock. The
Jumbos hit back, netting the next two as senior Jamie Atkins (Concord, MA) scored and assisted for an 8-6 lead
at the end of three.
After Tufts went up 9-7 on Hessler's goal at 11:55 of the
fourth, Williams junior Matt Cranshaw (Atlanta, GA) set up
consecutive goals by Reuter and Mike Ryan (Darien, CT) making in
9-9 at the 10:07 mark. Witko's game winner at 5:58 stood up after
Tufts junior goalie Bryan Petillo (Holbrook, NY)
made three key saves in the close minutes.
Petillo finished with 14 saves, as did Williams senior goalie
Stephen Vrla (Paradise Valley, AZ). The evenly matched contest was
further proved by the final statistics. The shots were even at
35-35, Tufts held a slim 39-36 edge in ground balls, and face-off
wins favored Williams 12-9. Both team scored twice on extra-man
opportunities, with Williams getting seven chances and Tufts
four.
Jumbo senior defenseman Eytan Saperstein (Hewlett,
NY) had five ground balls, including one that led to
Hessler's man-down score. Freshman Ryan Jorgenson
(Ridgewood, NJ) won four out of seven face-offs in spot
duty. Williams junior Tommy Murray (Alexandria, VA) collected five
ground balls, while Jacobs was 12 for 20 on face-offs.
With Connecticut College's 8-7 win over Middlebury today, the
Camels joined the Jumbos as the only unbeaten teams in NESCAC.
Tufts is back at it on Monday at Babson, while Williams next
travels to Endicott for a Tuesday afternoon contest.
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