Box Score 
MEDFORD - Senior tri-captain Beau Wood scored seven goals with one assist as the Tufts men's lacrosse team earned its third NCAA Championship Game berth with an impressive 21-11 victory at RIT in the national semi-finals Sunday afternoon at a lively Tiger Stadium.
In next Sunday's NCAA Final, the Jumbos (20-2) will face Salisbury (21-1), who won their NCAA semi-final 13-8 against Washington (MD). The NCAA final will be played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home of the National Football League's Ravens. Game time is 1 pm.
This will be the third meeting between the Jumbos and the Gulls in the NCAA final. Tufts made consecutive NCAA Championship Game appearances in 2010-11. The Jumbos won the 2010 NCAA title 9-6 and lost in the national finals to the Gulls 19-7 in 2011.
Similar to their NCAA Quarterfinal win over Cortland on May 14, today's NCAA semi-final at RIT was close at the end of the first quarter before the Jumbos started to pull away. The Jumbos and Tigers were tied 4-4 at the end of the first quarter. Tufts gained an advantage in the game by out-scoring the Tigers 6-2 in the second quarter to lead 10-6. They would never relinquish the lead.
Senior goalie Patton Watkins was tremedous again with 20 saves. Junior Cole Bailey added five goals with an assist for six points. Sophomores John Uppgren and Ben Andreycak both scored three times for Tufts. Sophomore defenseman Blake Wood scooped up four ground balls, while junior long-stick midfielder Jeff Chang caused two turnovers.
Tufts outshot RIT 51-47. RIT won the ground ball battle 52-45 and were 17 of 20 on clearing attempts. Each team won 18 of 36 face-offs. Four of RIT's goals came during their seven man-up chances, while Tufts finished with one goal on four man-up chances.
Casey Jackson led RIT with five points on three goals and two assists, while Allister Warren finished with three goals. Ryan Lee added a pair of goals and Pat Johnston took the loss in net, making 15 saves. Tyler Brooks-Lambert won 17 of 33 face-offs and had 10 ground balls. Matt Hossack caused five turnovers and had five ground balls.
RIT jumped out to a 4-2 lead at 1:54 of the first quarter when Alex Sulesky took a feed from Jackson and scored his seventh of the season. Warren, Lee and Kyle Aquin each had goals in the early stages of the quarter. The Jumbos scored two straight in the final 1:10 of the first quarter, tying the score at 4-4 on Uppgren's 61st goal of the season with 14 seconds to play in the opening quarter.
Tufts took the momentum into the second quarter, taking a 5-4 lead on Bailey's 48th goal of the season. Aquin and Jackson hooked up for a man-up goal at 11:30 of the second quarter, as Jackson fed Aquin on the doorstep, tying the score at 5-5. After a Bailey goal made it 6-6, Jackson scored off a fast break, taking a feed from Hossack and burying his second goal of the game, tying the score at 6-6.
Tufts took control of the game from there, closing out the first half with four straight goals, taking a 10-6 lead into halftime. Bailey scored twice and Woods and Peter Bowers each scored another for the Jumbos.
Wood opened the third quarter scoring with his third goal of the game and 68th of the season, giving the Jumbos its largest lead of the game at 11-6. Aquin took a feed from Warren at 12:05 of the third quarter breaking the Tufts run, cutting the Jumbos lead to 11-6.
Braden Wallace and Jackson added goals for the Tigers, but the Tufts' offense was clicking, as Bailey and Wood closed out the quarter with consecutive goals, giving the Jumbos a 15-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Lee and Jackson scored the only two RIT goals in the fourth quarter, while Tufts scored six times to put the game away.
The last time RIT gave up 20 goals in a game was on March 3, 2010, a 20-10 loss to Stevenson. It was Coon's first game as RIT head coach. The loss Sunday snapped RIT's 30-game home winning streak over the last three seasons. RIT was in the NCAA Tournament for the 16th time in school history. The loss ended a perfect season for the Tigers, the #1 ranked team in the nation who finish at 20-1.
Tufts, playing in the NCAA semi-finals for the fourth time in the last five years, are in their sixth straight NCAA Tournament and seventh overall. Following Sunday's win, they have compiled a 16-5 record in NCAA Tournaments overall.
Some materials in this recap courtesy of RIT Athletics
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