Box Score
TOWSON, MD - In a game where the starting time was delayed until 9:45 pm due to severe weather in the Baltimore area, the #1 ranked and defending NCAA champion Tufts University men's lacrosse team earned a 14-13 win against #2 ranked Stevenson in a wild out-of-region contest on Wednesday night.
Jumbo junior goalie Steven Foglietta (Oceanside, NY) made 24 saves in the game as the Mustangs attempted 76 shots overall. Junior Kevin McCormick scored three goals with three assists for Tufts, who also received four goals from junior Sean Kirwan (Boonton Township, NJ). The Jumbos improved to 4-0.
Stevenson (8-1) was led by four goals and an assist from senior Neal Barthelme. Returning First Team All-American Jimmy Dailey had a goal and three assists for the Mustangs. Goalie Ian Bolland made eight saves in the Stevenson net.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Stevenson beginning at 4 pm. However, during the day the site was changed to Towson University and the time was moved back to 8 pm due to weather. Lightning delays forced the starting time back to 9:45 pm. The teams played until 11:30 pm.
Tufts struck first on a goal by senior Matt Witko (Chappaqua, NY), but Stevenson scored the next two including Dailey's tally at 11:03 that put SU up 2-1. The Jumbos finished the first quarter with a four-goal run, including two goals and an assist by McCormick, to lead 5-2.
The Mustangs produced their own four-goal run to start the second quarter, with two scores by Kyle Moffitt helping them take a 6-5 lead with 2:02 remaining until halftime. However, the Jumbos scored three goals in the final 1:28 of the quarter - two by senior D.J. Hessler (Monkton, MD) - and led 8-6 at the break.
Tufts stretched its unanswered goals streak to five early in the third and led 10-6 at 10:51 following a goal by Witko. SU scored three of the next four to pull within 11-9 on Barthelme's goal from Dailey at 4:36. Hessler regained a three-goal margin for Tufts by scoring 29 seconds later, and 12-9 was the score at the end of the third.
A Kirwan goal at 12:47 of the fourth put the Jumbos up 13-10, but the Mustangs made it a one-goal game (13-12) with 8:34 remaining on a pair of Barthelme goals assisted by Dailey. Witko's goal at 4:32 made it 14-12 Tufts, but Stevenson's Tyler Reid scored with 2:34 on the clock for a 14-13 score.
Barthelme hit the post as the game wound down to a minute remaining. Tufts got the rebound, but turned it over and Foglietta had to make a clutch save. The Jumbos were able to run out the last minute with the help of two Stevenson penalties in the final 55 seconds.
Tufts returns home to continue NESCAC action on Saturday with a trip to Williams for a 1 pm start. Stevenson hosts Scranton on Saturday at noon.
Game Box Score
Read LaxMagazine.com's coverage of the game:
http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DIII/2010-11/news/032411_tufts_lacrosse_worth_the_wait_proves_its_worth_in_classic
http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DIII/2010-11/news/032411_loss_ends_brutal_stretch_in_stevenson_mens_lacrosse_schedule
http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DIII/2010-11/news/032311_live_blog_tufts_at_stevenson_lacrosse
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