MEDFORD, MA (March 8, 2023) -- The No. 2 Jumbos of Tufts University outscored visiting Springfield College 14-0 in the third quarter, opening up a 10-5 halftime contest to roll to a 31-9 non-conference victory in the home opener on Bello Field on a cold and chilly evening.
The 31 goals were tied for the third-most in a game in program history, evening the 31 tallies from a victory over Bates College back on April 24, 2021. The Jumbos have now scored 58 goals through the first two games, the most in the opening two contests in program history, and also have now scored 27 or more goals in nine contests since the start of the 2021 season. The 14 goals in the third quarter the most for a single period in program history, topping the 13 set in the first quarter last year in a April 13, 2022 win over Bates.
The game didn't start out quick though for the Jumbos (2-0), as Springfield (0-4) tallied the first goal of the game just under a minute into the contest to take a quick 1-0 lead. It was the second straight contest that Tufts fell behind early. That wouldn't last long though, as first-year
Jack Regnery tallied his first goal of his career followed by a
Tommy Swank strike at 11:08 of the first quarter to put Tufts on top. The Pride deadlocked the game at two on a man-up goal from Riley Burgmyer, but Tufts went on a five-goal run capped by three straight from
Jack Boyden to take a 7-2 lead with 2:04 to play in the opening stanza.
The Pride started the second quarter with a goal by Mason Nocito 46 seconds in, but
Sam Frisoli and
Kurt Bruun answered with unassisted tallies to make the score 9-3 with 10 minutes left in the half. Springfield didn't go away though, as Kevin Tierney scored twice to trim Tufts' lead down to four at 9-5. Senior
Sam Sturim scored with help from Boyden just before the halftime intermission to give the Jumbos a five-goal cushion at the break.
From that point on though, it would be all Jumbos as Bruun started the third-quarter scoring barrage, with Tufts scoring five goals over a 1:43 span to take a 15-5 lead. Bruun tallied once again with 9:20 remaining in the third quarter to jumpstart another big run, which finished on a
Callum Wood goal from
Max Ettinghausen to send the game to the fourth quarter with the hosts up 24-5.
Garrett Kurtz and
Garrett Kelly opened the fourth quarter with goals, Ettinghausen tallied twice and first-years
Victor Salcedo and
Declan Murphy also netted their first scores as Jumbos in the fourth to cap the scoring.
Boyden finished with a game-high seven goals and three assists, tallying 10 points for the contest to tie his career-high. Bruun finished with seven points on four goals and three assists, while Swank netted four markers as well. Regnery finished with two goals on two shots on goal,
Joey Kraft tallied a pair of assists and
Ethan O'Neill also finished with two points on a goal and an assist. In all, 22 players posted at least one point for Tufts on Wednesday evening.
Defensively,
Kyle Adelmann was a ball hawk for the Jumbos as he finished with five caused turnovers and eight ground balls, both team highs.
Parker Merril won all six of his face-offs to go with six ground balls, and
Michael Ayers finished with three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
Joe Murtha also added two assists, a caused turnover and a ground ball in the win, and Connor Garzone made eight saves in three quarters of action to get the win.
Eugene Yoon also made a pair of stops in his 4:38 of game time in the victory.
Bergmyer and Nocito each finished with three points in the loss for Springfield, as the Jumbos outshot the Pride 70-28 for the night. The Jumbos were 33-of-36 for the night on clear attempts, and forced 33 turnovers by Springfield.
The Jumbos will jump right back into New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action on Saturday, March 11, traveling to Amherst College at 1 p.m. for a conference contest with the Mammoths.
--JUMBOS--
