Men's Lacrosse Prepares To Host NESCAC Tournament This Weekend

MEDFORD, MA (May 1, 2023) -- The Tufts University men's lacrosse team, currently the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation according to the three major polls, will look to capture its fifth straight New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title and 12th overall as it takes on Amherst College in the semifinals at 12 p.m. Saturday on Bello Field. Tufts is the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament and Amherst is No. 4.

Championship Details:
2023 NESCAC Men's Lacrosse Championship
Dates: May 6-7, 2023
Location: Medford, MA – Bello Field (Directions)
Coverage: TOURNAMENT WEBSITE

Earlier This Season – Tufts vs. Amherst
The Jumbos and Mammoths played one of the most competitive contest all season for Tufts, as they were victorious 23-21 at Amherst. The Mammoths 12-7 midway through the second quarter but Tufts netted six straight, including two off the stick of Kurt Bruun to take an 13-12 in the third quarter. The team then traded goals over the rest of the third and into the fourth as the game was tied eight times during that stretch. Tommy Swank tied the game at 20 on the man-up and started a four-goal run that put the game away. Jack Boyden had 13 points in the game with four goals and nine assists.
 
All-Time With Amherst
Tufts is 31-36 against Amherst all-time, having won the last three matchups dating back to 2020. The Jumbos are 17-19 in the series at home, while this season's 23-21 contest was one of the closest margins of victory for Tufts in the history of the rivalry. Tufts has won the last two games at home against the Mammoths and the road victory earlier this season was the first win at Amherst for Tufts since 2019. Tufts and Amherst last played in the NESCAC Tournament in 2018 with the Jumbos winning 20-12. 

A Look At The Jumbos
Tufts remains as the lone Division III undefeated squad coming into the weekend, while the Jumbos and Division II LeMoyne are the only two undefeated squads left in the nation. The Jumbos are only the second team in NESCAC history to go 10-0 in the regular season, joining Bates College in 2017.

Tufts leads the nation in scoring offense and are top three in both ground balls per game and points per game. The Jumbos come into this weekend netting 19.76 goals per game, which leads NCAA lacrosse, while the scoring margin of 9.56 goals per game is seventh in the country. Tufts has picked up a total of 768 ground balls this season while its face-off winning percentage of .631 leads the NESCAC. Tufts also has caused nearly 12 turnovers per game, which ranks first in the NESCAC. 

Individually, Jack Boyden leads all of NCAA Lacrosse with 119 points, as his 4.38 assists per game rank first in Division III. Boyden has six games with 10 or more points this season, while he has tallied at least three points in every game in 2023. Over the last five games, Boyden has dished out 18 assists, and has a total of 29 points over that span. Tommy Swank ranks second in the NESCAC in goals per game with 3.37, having buried 53 goals including seven in the quarterfinal round against Conn. College last Saturday. Kurt Bruun has been fantastic as well, with 24 points in his last five games.

Additionally, Charlie Tagliaferri has been the leading midfielder option offensively, as the shifty dodger has 31 goals and 11 assists for 42 points in all 16 games. First-year Jack Regnery has been on the top midfield line all season, as he has 18 goals and eight assists, while Kevin Christmas and Max Ettinghausen have combined for 28 goals as well out of the midfield. The defensive middies for Tufts love getting involved in the scoring, as Joe Murtha, Cam Delcristo, Michael Ayers, Ben Frisoli, Ethan O'Neill, and Sam Sturim have six or more scores this season. 

Preseason All-American Kyle Adelmann has been a man possessed on defense as he has 31 caused turnovers, which is seventh in the conference while teammate Joey Waldbaum is eighth in the category with 27 forced giveaways. Tufts has four players in the top 15 in the conference in caused turnovers. George Panagopoulos and Ayers have been strong this year, with Ayers causing 23 turnovers and Panagopoulos causing 19 along with cooping up 30 ground balls. In between the pipes, Connor Garzone continues to hold down the fort as the junior net minder has made 163 saves for the season while saving 54.9 percent of shots on cage. 

The face-off men for the Jumbos have been excellent as well, as Tufts has been led by senior Mason Kohn and his stellar 72.2 percent face-off win percentage. That ranks fourth in the nation, and first in the NESCAC, while sophomore Parker Merril has won 63.9 percent from the "X".

Head coach Casey D'Annolfo is two wins away from 100 for his coaching tenure at Tufts coming into the weekend. 

A Look At The Mammoths 
Amherst come into Saturday's game 11-4 on the season, earning six NESCAC wins, but played some of the best in the league tough this year. Amherst advanced to the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament by defeating No. 5 seed Bowdoin 18-16 at home. In addition to falling by just two goals to Tufts at home March 11, the Mammoths fell to No. 3 seed Williams College by a single goal in overtime as well back on April 15. Amherst was 3-1 this season on the road defeating Hamilton, Colby, and Trinity. Amherst ranks the in the conference in goals scored this season with 238 and has given up 195 goals. 
 
Offensively, Tanyr Krummenacher paces the team with 49 goals and 32 assists for 81 points. Bob Gross has 41 goals as well, and Bayard DeMallie has found the back of the net 34 times as well. Jake Bennett is third on the team in assists with third and has scored 32 times this season. At the face-off "X" Amherst is led by Nicholas Kopp who has a 56.4 winning percentage this year.
 
On defense, Lawson Laverty has forced 30 turnovers this season and ranks fifth in the conference in caused turnovers per game. Mitch Likins has started all 15 games this season for Amherst and has made 191 saves while saving 50.1 percent of shots.

Amherst is head coached by Sean Woods in his 17th year and third season in charge of the Mammoths.
 
In the other semifinal matchup, No. 2 seed Middlebury College will take on No. 3 seed Williams College at 3 p.m.

Earlier This Season – Middlebury vs. Williams
The Panthers and Ephs faced off in the last regular season game for both teams with Middlebury going on the road and picking up the victory, 14-8. Middlebury opened up a 5-2 lead early in the first quarter with five different goal scorers. The lead grew to five coming out of halftime before Williams responded with three of there own to cut the lead to two. The Panthers' resiliency showed as they shutout the Ephs in the fourth quarter and pulled away. Bully Curtis led the way for Middlebury with six points, three goals and three assists. Jake Peluso also scored three goals along with Russell Thorndike and Tom Conley adding two goals.
 
All-Time History- Middlebury vs Williams
Middlebury leads the series between the two schools all time 41-21 dating back to 1950. The Panthers have won the last two matchups against Williams with the Ephs last winning in 2019. Middlebury longest winning streak against Williams is 13 games going from 1994 to 2006. The two teams have faced off twice in the NESCAC Tournament before with Middlebury winning back in 2015 14-13 and Williams in 2014 13-9.
 
A Look At The Panthers
Middlebury enters the weekend with a 15-1 record and a 9-1 conference record with the only loss all season coming to Tufts on April 1st, 19-15. They are ranked No. 5 in all major polls and have seven wins over ranked opponents.
 
Russell Thorndike leads the way for the Panthers with 38 goals this season to go along with 18 assists. Billy Curtis leads Middlebury in both points and assists as he had 36 assists and 57 points. First-Year midfielder Cooper DeMallie has come in and contributed right away with 25 goals. Additionally, William Ryan is another 30-goal scorer for the Panthers with 35 goals and 11 assists.
 
On defense, they have caused the second most turnovers in the conference with 191as Luke Simpson leads the way with 37. He also is second on the team in ground balls with 59. In total seven defenders for Middlebury has 10 or more caused turnovers as they have allowed the second to last goals. In net is Hayden Kern who has made 182 saves and saving 52.1 percent of shots.
 
Middlebury is head coached by Dave Campbell in his 22nd year and 16th season in charge of the Panthers. 
 
A Look At The Ephs
Williams comes into the NESCAC semifinal with a record of 10-6 and a 6-4 conference record. They defeated Trinity in the quarterfinal round, 10-8. Nationally they are ranked 18th/19th in the major polls.
 
The Ephs are anchored by their defense as they have allowed the second fewest goals in the conference all season with 161. Starting in net is Matthew Freitas who is first in the conference in goals against average and save percentage. Freitas is allowing less than 10 goals per game and is stopping shots at 58.2 save percent rate making close to 14 saves a game. Ian Di Pietro, Eddie Loyd, and Patrick Gaul have all forced more than 20 turnovers this season.
 
Offensively, Calvin Caputo runs the offense as he has 36 goals this season to go along with 17 assists for 53 points. Finlay MacKnight is the second leading scorer on the team with 24 goals and 21 assists for 45 points. Jesse Shaprio leads the Ephs running out of the midfield with 21 goals. Ryan Johnson, Pearse Glavin, and Cade Schuckman have all contributed 10 or more goals for the Williams.
 
Williams is head coached by George McCormack in his 24th year and 20th season in charge of the Ephs. 
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The two semifinal winners will square off in the NESCAC Championship game on Sunday May 7 at 12:00 p.m. at Bello Field.

                                                                                                                                    --JUMBOS--