HARTFORD, CT (March 9, 2024) -- The No. 3 Tufts University men's lacrosse team blitzed host Trinity College with 16 first-half goals Saturday, breezing past the Bantams 24-13 in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action from Jessee Miller Field.
Tufts (3-0, 2-0 NESCAC) started the scoring 2:34 into the contest as junior
Max Ettinghausen tallied unassisted followed by a Brookis Hauser score to give the Jumbos a 2-0 lead. Trinity would keep it close as Jay Ottomanelli scored to pull the Bantams to within two at 4-2, but the Jumbos finished the first stanza with a 5-0 run on the strength of three goals from sophomore
Jack Regnery to make it 9-2. During that run, Tufts tallied three goals in the span of 21 seconds.
The run would continue into the second quarter, as the first five goals of the period came from the Jumbos capped by another Hauser goal to make the score 14-2.
Garrett Kelly and
Charlie Tagliaferri each tallied just before halftime to make it 16-3 at the break. The Jumbos would continue to add to their edge, leading by as many as 15 at 20-5 before Trinity scored eight goals in the fourth quarter after the outcome had been decided.
Tufts outshot their hosts 55-42 for the game, while forcing 26 turnovers by the Bantams on the day. Tufts also a crisp 6-for-6 on its extra-man opportunities Saturday.
Individually, Regnery tallied five goals and dished out two helpers for seven points, while Ettinghausen scored four times on seven shots. Hauser had four points on two goals and two assists, while Tagliaferri,
Sam Frisoli and
Garrett Kelly each netted two goals. First-years
Chase Beyer and
Jackson Redd each scored their first career goals in the win, while
Cam Keough handed out two assists to go with three caused turnovers.
Victor Salcedo was also a strong 8-of-12 in face-offs, picking up five ground balls.
On the defensive side of the ball,
Cam Delcristo caused two turnovers and
Michael Ayers forced two turnovers while adding three ground balls. Sophomore
Ben Frisoli scooped up three loose balls off the wing, scoring once, and
Parker Merril won six face-offs and corralled four ground balls. Connor Garzone continued to play well, as he made eight stops in 35 minutes of play, and is now stopping 64.3 percent of shots on target. First-year
Will Anderson also played between the pipes for the first time at Tufts, stopping three shots.
Trinity was paced by Matt Pecora and his four points on two goals and two assists. Bo Page also contributed three points, and Jon Krikorian, Jake Connors and David Burleson netted two goals. Jordan Opdahl stopped 14 shots for the Bantams (0-3, 0-2 NESCAC).
The Jumbos will be off until Friday evening at 5:45 PM, traveling down to Stevenson University for the 2024 Mustang Classic, taking on NESCAC foe Hamilton College in conference action. The following day, Tufts will battle No. 2 RIT Saturday, March 16 at 5:45 PM in a rematch of the 2023 NCAA Semifinal.
--JUMBOS--
