COLLEGE MEN'S
LACROSSE FINAL SCORE
Tufts 13, Williams 9
At Medford, MA
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Game
Box Score
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Junior D.J. Hessler became the team's all-time
leading playmaker in the victory
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MEDFORD -- Junior D.J. Hessler (Monkton, MD)
scored twice and assisted on six other goals to lead the
seventh-ranked Tufts University men's lacrosse team to a 13-9
victory over Williams College in the quarterfinal round of the 2010
New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship
on Sunday afternoon at Bello Field. Coupled with a 6-5 loss by top
seed Connecticut College to #8 seed Wesleyan, #2 seed Tufts will
now host the NESCAC semi-finals and championship game next weekend
(May 8-9) at Bello.
The Jumbos set a school record for victories in a season by
improving to 14-1 on Sunday. They built an 8-4 halftime lead with a
strong second quarter, but the visiting Ephs fought back with a
great third to tie the score at 9-9. Tufts was the better finisher,
scoring the final four goals to get the win. Seventh-seed Williams'
season ends with a 5-10 record. The Ephs were led by a goal and two
assists from senior co-captain Richard Reuter (Ridgewood, NJ).
Hessler assisted on the first four Tufts goals as the hosts took
a 4-2 lead early in the second quarter. They pushed it to 7-2 when
junior Ryan Molloy (Setauket, NY) capped a
four-goal run with his third goal of the game at 9:38 of the second
period. Williams sophomore Mike Ryan (Darien, CT) scored with 40
seconds to go until halftime, pulling the Ephs within 8-4 going
into the break.
Williams controlled the third quarter, out-scoring the Jumbos
5-2. They received goals from five different players to tie the
score at 9-9 on a tally by sophomore Sam Hargrove (Wallingford, PA)
at 2:48 of the third. However, Hessler notched the game-winner at
1:12 of the third, starting the 4-0 closing stretch that included
another Hessler goal to finish it.
The six assists tied Hessler's career-high and also gave him the
Tufts all-time record with 106 in his three seasons. He surpassed
Bryan Griffin's previous mark of 101 from 2002-05.
Molloy finished with four goals and an assist for Tufts, while
senior Jamie Atkins (Concord, MA) added a
career-high three scores. The ground ball battle was tight, with
Tufts winning 41-37 and junior Alec Bialosky (Moreland
Hills, OH) contributing six. Sophomore Steven Foglietta (Oceanside, NY) finished with nine saves and
sophomore Nick Rhoads (McLean, VA) won half of the
24 face-offs he took. The Jumbos recorded a large 46-27 advantage
in shots.
Junior Matt Cranshaw (Atlanta, GA) and sophomore Tim Goggins
(Pittsfield, MA) scored two goals apiece for Williams. Senior
Stephen Vrla (Paradise Valley, AZ) made nine of his 12 saves in the
first half. Junior Corey Jacobs (Somers, CT) was 14 for 26 on
face-offs, while Hargrove scooped up five ground balls.
Tufts will play Wesleyan in the semi-finals of the NESCAC
Championship next Saturday. Fourth seed Bowdoin, a 12-11 winner in
overtime against Colby today, will play the winner of the
Amherst-Middlebury contest that is still in progress.
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