Philadelphia, PA (May 28, 2023) – An unforgettable season for the Tufts University men's lacrosse team came to end Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, as the Jumbos fell to Salisbury University, 17-12 in the NCAA Division III National Championship game.
The Jumbos (23-1) can look back fondly on an amazing run over the last three months, winning a program-record 22 games in a row to get to the championship game. That stretch included a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title, along with four NCAA Tournament victories while hosting two rounds in the NCAA Tournament. The championship game appearance for Tufts was the sixth in program history. It was the first since 2016 and first for head coach
Casey D'Annolfo.
The Sea Gulls started fast as they held the Jumbos scoreless in the first quarter and took a 6-0 lead after the first 15 minutes. The Jumbos responded twice in the first five minutes of the second quarter as
Charlie Tagliaferri got them started and then
Kurt Bruun cut the lead to four. The next four goals were scored by Salisbury as their lead was now 10-2 with just over four minutes to play before halftime.
Bruun gave Tufts momentum going into the break as he first scored with three minutes remaining off a feed from
Jack Boyden. With just .2 seconds remaining, Bruun picked up a rebound following a
Ben Frisoli shot and buried it to make it 10-4 going to halftime.
Coming out of halftime, both defenses stood tall as neither team scored for over six minutes until
Joey Waldbaum found Frisoli streaking and he scored to cut the lead in half. Just over a minute later, Boyden and Bruun connected again as this time Bruun found Boyden and lead was now 10-6. Another Sea Gull goal pushed the lead back up to five, but the Jumbos refused to go away as they scored the next three.
Off the assist from Boyden, Tagliaferri scored his second of the day with just over four minutes to play to cut the lead again to four. Bruun's fourth of the day with just over a minute and a half left then made it 11-8 with
Mason Kohn just seven seconds later got the Jumbos within two.
Salisbury would respond with a three-goal run and made their lead 14-9. The fifth goal for Bruun came with just over seven minutes remaining as Tagliaferri found him for a 14-10 lead. Two Cross Ferrara goals for the Sea Gulls made it a six-goal game with
Cam Delcristo and
Jack Regnery then scoring 18 seconds apart to make it 16-12 with 2:46 to play. A Salisbury goal would seal the deal and finish the game 17-12.
"I just want to say how proud of our group," said D'Annolfo. "I just talked to them in the locker room...it's a pretty incredible story start to finish. We're not unique that we had to go through CoVID, and then not knowing if we were going to have a season. And then last year two tragic deaths close to the program before the season started. To come back this year, to go undefeated up to the championship game, to have a good time doing it, being a brotherhood. Making it fun every single day. I'm incredibly grateful for that, I'll never forget that. Obviously, would have liked a better result, but I'll never forget the last three and a half months with them."
Bruun led the Jumbos with five goals that tied a season high with adding an assist for six points. Boyden had a goal and two assists while Tagliaferri scored twice and had an assist for three points.
Regnery, Frisoli, Delcristo, and Kohn all scored for the Jumbos while Waldbaum recorded an assist.
Kyle Adelmann had another solid game defensively causing two turnovers and scooping up three ground balls.
Kohn,
Parker Merril, and
Victor Salcedo all went over 50 percent at the face-off "X" as for the game they went 23-32. Kohn finished 15-19 with Salcedo going 5-10 and Merril 3-3.
Conner Garzone finished with 12 saves in net for the Jumbos.
Brice Bromwell scored four goals for Salisbury to lead the team. Ferrara scored three goals and had an assist for four points. Nicholas Ransom made 16 saves for the Sea Gulls.
--JUMBOS--
