MEDFORD, MA (April 12, 2023) -- The No. 1 Tufts University men's lacrosse team used a strong effort from their attack unit to defeat Bates in NESCAC action from Bello Field on Wednesday night.
The win pushed the Jumbos up to 12-0 on the season, while staying undefeated in the NESCAC through seven games. In all, the starting attack unit for Tufts, Kurt Bruun, Jack Boyden, and Tommy Swank combined to score 13 goals and collect nine assists for a total of 22 points.
Swank got the scoring starting for the Jumbos as he scored the first two goals of the game before Connor Hartman got Bates on the board about midway through the first quarter. Bruun would get the next goal for Tufts with Swank scoring the next two to give him four goals in the first quarter. Boyden would assist on three of the five goals as Tufts led 5-1 after one quarter.
To start the second quarter it was Bruun's turn to get the scoring going as he scored twice less than one minute into the quarter as Boyden assisted on both goals. Swank and Bruun would go back-to-back as they scored 15 seconds apart to build Tufts' lead up to 9-1. Following a Bates goal, Swank gave the Tufts its eight goal lead back as he scored his sixth of the game off the feed from Kevin Christmas. Christmas would score his 11th goal of the season with a nice move as Tufts now led 11-3. Swank set a new career high in goal in a game as he netted his seventh off the feed from Bruun. Bruun would add a man-up goal for the Jumbos four seconds before halftime as Joe Murtha found him and Tufts led 13-3 going to halftime.
Bates would get the scoring going in the third quarter as a shot on the ensuing possession from Ethan O'Neil found the back of the net for the Jumbos. Boyden would get on the goal sheet as Bruun found him to make it 15-5 Tufts. Josiah de Grasse scored his first career goal as he took it from end-to-end and the Jumbos would lead 16-5 going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter saw back and forth action between the teams as several Jumbo players netted their first goals as Sam Miller, Max Melton, and Brooks Hauser all found the back of the net. Callum Wood scored his fourth of the season and Tufts would close out its 20-7 victory over Bates.
Bruun racked up eight points on five goals and three assists, while Swank scored seven goals for seven points. Boyden also had seven points with one goal and six assists along with four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Christmas had a strong game as he had two points with one goal and one assist. Along with the goal scorers, Murtha, Charlie Tagliaferri, Max Ettinghausen, Joey Kraft, and Liam Nestor all added assists.
Both Mason Kohn and Victor Salcedo finished the game going 9-for-12 at the "X." Four different goalies manned the crease for Tufts as Cody Wiebe started and picked up the win making three saves during the first half. Eugene Yoon, Shane Molloy, and Ben Friedlander all saw action in the second half.
Michael Ayers had a very solid game with six ground balls and four caused turnovers, and de Grasse and Joey Waldbaum each forced two turnovers. As a team, Tufts out shot Bates 76-26 and had the ground ball advantage 58-31. The Jumbos were also a perfect 26 for 26 on clears.
Hartman registered a team-high two goals for Bates, while Cooper Lance tallied four points with one goal and three assists as well. Drew Nyhus made 27 saves in his first career start for the Bobcats.
Tufts will be back in NESCAC action on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., traveling down to Connecticut to take on Wesleyan College.
