WILLIAMSTOWN, MA (April 2, 2024) -- The No. 4 Tufts University men's lacrosse team trailed 9-1 early on in the second quarter, but the Jumbos battled back to earn a hard fought 17-15 comeback victory over host and No. 17 Williams College in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play Wednesday night at Farley-Lamb Field. With the win, Tufts (8-1, 5-0 NESCAC) pushed their NESCAC win streak to 27 games while holding the longest true road game win streak in the country at 11.
The win streaks didn't come easy on Tuesday night for the Jumbos, as Tufts was forced to make its largest since at least 2010. The Ephs (5-4, 3-2 NESCAC) came out fast and had the Jumbos on their heels with the first seven goals of the game in the opening quarter before
Kristian Rosario scored with 1:36 to play in the frame after a face-off win by Tufts. Williams took its largest lead of the game at 9-1 early in the second quarter, as Will Doran scored with the extra man to take an eight-goal lead.
Tufts would start to stiffen defensively, holding the Ephs scoreless over the final 12:15 of the first half which enabled the Jumbos to get things going offensively. A man-up goal from junior
Max Ettinghausen followed by a strike from
Garrett Kelly made it 9-3 with 2:36 to go in the opening half. Williams had the ball late in the half but couldn't run down the clock, as a save from Connor Garzone started a transition break which ended in a goal from Ettinghausen off a
Jack Regnery pass with one second left in the quarter to make it 9-4 at the halftime intermission.
Tufts was outshot 27-18 in the first half, but the Jumbos forced six turnovers in the second half to keep Williams at bay. The second half started on fire for the Jumbos as they quickly trimmed their deficit from five to one with four goals in a 3:15 minute stretch. Rosario scored his second goal of the day to start the run, while
Ben Frisoli capped the spurt with a goal at 10:43 of the third quarter ot make it 9-8 Ephs.
The scoring drought finally ended for Williams at the 5:30 mark of the third quarter, as Calvin Caputo tallied unassisted to snap a 21:45 scoreless stretch by the hosts. The lead increased back out to three for Williams on another Doran goal, but
Kevin Christmas answered right back with a score followed by a pair of goals by
Brooks Hauser to tie the game for the first time all evening with six seconds left in the third quarter. The game would not go to the fourth deadlocked though, as Noah Dewbrey scored with one second left off the face-off to make it 12-11 Ephs after three.
Williams would lead by two on a pair of occasions in the fourth quarter, the latest coming at 14-12 after a Ryan Johnson goal at 11:41. After a big stop by Garzone, Hauser scored for Tufts followed by his classmate Kelly scoring unassisted to tie the game at 14. The Ephs once again regained their lead 22 seconds later on a Ryan Nagle goal, but Kelly answered with another unassisted goal to make it 15-15.
Tufts took its first lead of the game with 5:12 to go and would never trail again, as
Charlie Tagliaferri dodged in and fired home from the top of the zone to make it 16-15 Tufts. Williams would possess the ball with a chance to tie, but
Ben Frisoli caused a turnover to end the threat. Tufts also was able to get a stop after a pair of Williams shots, was the transition ended up in another Hauser goal to give Tufts some breathing room at 17-15. Williams got one more attempt on goal, but Garzone stoned Nagle and the Jumbos ran out the clock for the character win.
Regnery started slow but still ended up with a team-high five points on two goals and three assists, taking 13 shots. Kelly registered a career-high four goals on six shots on goal, adding two ground balls, and Hauser also scored a career-high four goals. Tagliaferri added three assists to his ledger in addition to his game-winner, while Ettinghausen also tallied twice.
Victor Salcedo led the team with nine ground balls, as he went 12-of-17 at the "X" and
Parker Merril also won 10-of-17 while grabbing eight grounders.
Frisoli had another strong day with two caused turnovers and three ground balls, and
George Panagopoulos finished with a caused turnover and a ground ball.
Joey Waldbaum also collected four ground balls in the win, and Garzone finished with 14 saves in the victory. Despite being behind in the shot counter all night, Tufts still outshot their hosts 49-46 while holding a 34-27 edge in loose ball pickups.
Tufts won the face-off edge 22-12 on the night, but did have a slow night with the man-up as it was 1-for-7 Wednesday.
Doran had six points in the loss for Williams, while Matt Wemore stopped 11 shots for the Ephs.
Tufts will have a tough test on Saturday afternoon, welcoming No. 20 Wesleyan University to Bello Field for another ranked showdown in NESCAC play.
--JUMBOS--
