Men's Lacrosse Downs Hamilton On Senior Day, 22-12

MEDFORD, MA (April 22, 2023) -- The No. 1 Tufts University men's lacrosse team scored eight goals in the second quarter to pull ahead and eventually secured the victory in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play on senior day from Bello Field Saturday afternoon, as they defeat Hamilton College, 22-12.
 
In a back-and-forth quarter, Hamilton would get the scoring starting as Cash Wiley gave the Continentals a 1-0 lead, but Charlie Tagliaferri tied the game with his 23^rd goal of the season on the man-up opportunity off the assist from Joe Murtha. Tufts would take a one goal lead three times in the quarter as Max Ettinghausen scored twice, and Jack Boyden netted one as Hamilton would respond each time.
 
The Continentals took a 5-4 lead going into the second quarter as Thomas Healey scored. Jack Fried was big for Hamilton in net as he made eight saves in the quarter.
 
An illegal crosse penalty on Hamilton in between the first and second quarters gave Tufts the man-up opportunity, as Tagliaferri scored again to tie the just 16 seconds into the quarter. Kurt Bruun gave Tufts a 6-5 lead, but Hamilton would tie it back up off a man-down goal.
 
Over the final 10 minutes and 48 seconds, the Jumbos outscored Hamilton 6-2 as Jack Regnery started it off with a beautiful goal. Then it was Boyden and Sam Frisoli who scored just 39 seconds apart as the Jumbos now led 9-6.
 
Following a Fried save, Cam Delcristo came up with a ground ball in front of the net and fired a shot that gave Tufts a 10-6 lead. Hamilton would score to stop the Tufts run but Ettinghausen scored his third goal of the first half to regain the Jumbos four goal advantage.
 
With time running out before the half, Joey Waldbaum picked up a loose ball and threw a pin-point length of the field pass to Boyden on the crease and he scored with no time remaining to give Tufts a 12-8 lead at halftime.
 
Coming out of halftime, Tommy Swank scored twice in the span of 16 seconds to build Tufts' lead up to 14-8. The two teams would trade goals the rest of the quarter as Regnery and Bruun each added another goal and Tufts led 16-10 going to the fourth quarter. The defense in the third quarter caused seven turnovers and Conner Garzone made three saves.
 
Tim Sommer cut the Tufts lead to five just 28 seconds in the fourth quarter, but Tufts would score the next five goals all scored by five different players. Ethan O'Neill scored the first goal off the feed from Boyden with Boyden scoring the next goal to make it 18-11 Tufts.
 
Swank then found Michael Ayers streaking down the field after a Parker Merril faceoff win with Ayers to make the contest 19-11. Following a Hamilton penalty, Bruun added a man-up goal to give Tufts a nine-goal advantage, with Kevin Christmas making it 21-11 with his goal. Hunter Watts scored his first goal of the season to give the Jumbos the 22-12 advantage they would finish with.
 
Boyden led the squad on Saturday with four goals and three assists for seven points, while Swank finished with five points, two goals and three assists. Tagliaferri posted four points on two goals and two assists with Bruun and Ettinghausen each adding a hat-trick.
 
Kyle Adelmann had a strong game defensively with five caused turnovers and six ground balls, while Waldbaum caused three turnovers. Mason Kohn had another good day at the faceoff "X" as he won 14 of 18 draws to go along with 12 ground balls while Merril went 11 of 18 and picked up 10 ground balls. Garzone made nine saves in net while Cody Wiebe came in and made a save.
 
Sommer added four points for the Continentals with two goals and two assists. Healey led Hamilton with three goals and Rowan Brumbaugh added three points on one goal and two assists. Fried was strong in net for Hamilton as he made 24 saves.
 
With the victory, Tufts clinches the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament. Following the game, the men's lacrosse team honored its 13 seniors, Kyle Adelmann, Jack Boyden, Kurt Bruun, Mason Kohn, Garrett Kurtz, Shane Molloy, Lane McCarty, Joe Murtha, Sam Sturim, Tommy Swank, Hunter Watts, Cody Wiebe, and Eugene Yoon.

The Jumbos will be back in action on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m., traveling to Brunswick, ME to battle Bowdoin College April 26 in conference play. 

                                                                                                    
                                                                                            --JUMBOS—