Box Score Recap courtesy of Colby College
WATERVILLE, Maine - The third-ranked Tufts University men's lacrosse team opened an early 7-0 lead and then held off Colby College for a 10-7 NESCAC win Saturday at Seaverns Field at Harold Alfond Stadium.
The Jumbos, also ranked first in New England, improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the NESCAC. The Mules fell to 1-3 and 1-2 in the league.
Tufts looked like it might run away with the game in the first quarter. The visitors had 18 shots, took a 7-0 lead and forced Colby goalie C.J. Layton to make seven saves. Danny Murphy scored two goals, including one with just three seconds left in the first quarter, and had one assist during the opening period. Ben Connelly finished with one goal and two assists during the run. Michael Mattson, Zach Richman, John Cordrey, and Lucas Johnson also tallied.
The Mules scored the lone two goals in the second quarter to make it 7-2 at intermission. Tucker Dietrick scored with 6:53 remaining and Austin Sayre tallied 39 seconds later.
Colby held the Jumbos without a goal for 29:54 to cut the gap to 7-4. Don Vivian tallied 2:14 into the third quarter and Sayre got his second of three goals on the day with 1:49 remaining.
Holden Rosen Grupp spurred Tufts with two goals in a span of 1:01 at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters. He scored from Luke Kurtz with just nine seconds left in the third to make it 8-4. Rosen Grupp then scored unassisted just 52 seconds into the fourth quarter for a 9-4 margin.
The Mules scored three straight goals to cut the lead to 9-7 with 7:16 to play. Sayre scored with 12:21 remaining, Vivian scored on a blast from Dietrick with 10:13 to play and Cillian Connor scored on the man-up from Lane Kadish for Colby's final score.
Colby had a chance to cut the lead to one goal after the Jumbos took a slashing penalty with 6:29 to go. However, Jumbo goalie Robert Treiber picked off a centering pass to get the change of possession. Lucas Johnson scored from John Cordrey with 4:29 remaining for the final goal.
Layton stopped 18 shots, including seven in the first quarter and six more in the third. The Mules held Tufts to its lowest scoring output since falling 11-10 against Stevenson last year on March 22. In NESCAC games, Colby held the Jumbos to their lowest total since falling 15-8 to Williams College on April 1, 2014. Besides the strong defense and Layton's clutch saves, the Mules did not take a penalty in the game. Meanwhile, Colby went 2-for-6 with the man-up.
Both face-off men had solid days. Tufts' Henry Hollen was 11-for-20 on draws and had nine groundballs. Michael Logan won nine face-offs and had five groundballs for the Mules.
Tyler Olney had a big defensive day with four caused turnovers and five groundballs for the Jumbos. Tyler Carbone added three caused turnovers and three groundballs, while Connor Lansdale had three caused turnovers and one groundball.
Sean Dougherty led Colby with three caused turnovers and four groundballs. Layton also had two groundballs and caused one turnover.
Ben Shmerler played the opening half and made five saves for Tufts. Treiber played the final 30 minutes and made three stops.
The Jumbos head south to play their annual game at Stevenson on Tuesday. Colby will play Vassar College at Trinity College in Hartford on Tuesday.
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