Box Score
HARTFORD – Junior attackman Rob Nogueras (Parkland, FL) scored the game-winning goal from freshman attacker Matt Hauck (Ridgewood, N.J) with 1:37 left in overtime to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 9-8 victory over the visiting Tufts University Jumbos in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's lacrosse action this afternoon on Jessee/Miller Field.
Trinity, ranked #10 in New England, improves to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the NESCAC with its fifth consecutive victory, while the Jumbos, ranked #2 in New England and #6 nationally, fall to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the league with their first loss in three games.
Sixteen seconds after a Tufts penalty, Nogueras took a pass from behind the goal from Hauck and fired from the left wing past Tufts sophomore goalie Patton Watkins (Chattanooga, TN) for the clinching goal. Nogueras, who scored all three Bantam goals in the second half, had given Trinity an 8-4 lead with 6:42 left in the third period with a pair of tallies 52 seconds apart, but Tufts rallied to outscore the Bantams, 4-0, over the final 21:42 of regulation including the game-tying score by sophomore Peter Bowers (Conestoga, PA) with 41 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force the extra frame.
Tufts held a 3-2 lead after one quarter before Trinity scored four unanswered goals in a 3:10 span early in the second frame. Junior midfielder Nick Shaheen (Williamsburg, MA) started the spurt with an unassisted goal with 13:13 on the clock and added a man-up goal shortly after. Trinity rookie midfielder James O'Connell (Middleton, MA) scored with 10:12 left before the break, and sophomore face-off specialist Will Benjamin (Garrison, NY) rifled in Trinity's fourth goal in a row just nine seconds later. Jumbo freshman attacker Chris Schoenhut (Mill Neck, NY) scored with 8:12 left in the second quarter to slow down the Bantam momentum.
Tufts sophomore midfielder Beau Wood (Sherwood Forest, MD) started the 4-0 Jumbo rally with 1:19 left in the third frame, converting on an assist by senior co-captain midfielder Kevin McCormick (Laytonsville, MD), while Bowers and McCormick scored for Tufts in the final minute of the third and 1:19 into the fourth quarter, respectively. The game remained, 8-7, in Trinity's favor until the final minute, although one Tufts goal was nullified by a crease violation with 8:30 on the clock and Trinity senior tri-captain Peter Johnson (Riverside, CT) sped back from almost midfield after turning the ball over to stop a one-on-one scoring chance for the Jumbos with just over five minutes left.
Nogueras and Shaheen recorded a hat trick apiece, while Hauck and sophomore middie Terence Olsen (Avon, CT) each had two assists for the Bantams. Johnson stopped 19 shots and scooped four ground balls for Trinity, which made good on three of its four extra-man opportunities to offset a 54-33 shotS deficit.
Bowers scored three times for Tufts, while McCormick notched two goals and one assist. Watkins finished with 14 saves, and Nick Rhoads (McLean, VA) scooped five ground balls and won 15 of his 21 face-offs for the Jumbos.
The teams combined for 55 turnovers in wet conditions.
Game boxscore
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Game recap courtesy of Trinity College
