MEDFORD, MA (April 24, 2024) -- The No. 3 Tufts University men's lacrosse squad will start its quest for a sixth straight New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title on Saturday, and that title run will go through Medford as the Jumbos clinched the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament with a big 16-13 win over No. 15 Bowdoin College Wednesday on Bello Field.
The Jumbos and Polar Bears came in with identical 8-1 records in the NESCAC prior to the game, with the winner earning the right to host as long as it stayed alive in the NESCAC Tournament. With Tufts' earning that honor thanks to Wednesday's win, the top-seeded Jumbos will host Hamilton College (8-6, 4-6 NESCAC) Saturday at 3 p.m. in the NESCAC quarterfinals, while Bowdoin dropped to the No. 3 seed and will take on Williams College in Brunswick, ME at 1 p.m.
The contest was one of multiple runs over the first half, as Bowdoin (10-4, 8-2 NESCAC) netted three of the game's first four goals over the first 12 minutes capped by a Jason Lach unassisted goal to make it 3-1.
Tufts responded with five straight tallies, two each from sophomores
Garrett Kelly and
Brooks Hauser, to make it 6-3 Jumbos with 9:05 to play in the opening half. Bowdoin would not go away as it answered the Tufts' run with a four-goal spurt of its own over 2:30 on the clock to regain the lead at 7-6 following a Zack Goorno goal at 5:58.
Tufts didn't wilt though, as
Jack Regnery posted consecutive goals followed by a
Max Ettinghausen score with three minutes remaining in the second quarter to send the game to intermission with the hosts up 10-7.
After the halftime hiatus, Tufts maintained its momentum from before the break as Kelly scored to keep the run going and
Logan Lee netted his second of the year to cap the 7-0 run with Tufts up 13-7. The long-stick goal by Lee was the second by a LSM in the third quarter, as
Ben Frisoli struck for his seventh of the season earlier in the frame.
Bowdoin would finally get back in the goal column with 6:03 to play in the third quarter, as Jason Lach stopped a nearly 15 minute scoring drought by the Polar Bears to make it 13-8.
The Jumbos though would be able to hold their visitors at an arm's length for the remainder of the game, getting big fourth quarters scores from Ettinghausen and
Louis Timmins along with stellar goalkeeping from Connor Garzone to secure the victory.
Ettinghausen finished the contest with four points on two goals and two assists, while Regnery finished with four goals and three ground balls. Hauser posted three more scores, and Kelly equaled his classmate with three goals while adding two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Senior
Kevin Christmas also recorded a goal and an assist along with three ground balls, and
Joey Waldbaum recorded six grounders to go with three caused turnovers.
Sophomore
Ben Clarke forced two turnovers as well, and Lee recorded three loose ball pick-ups to go with his goal. Junior
Parker Merril was 9-of-17 in the "X" for Tufts, winning nine of his 17 face-offs, chalking up six ground balls, and Garzone recorded 14 saves Wednesday to go over 500 for his career as he finished the night with 502.
Lach posted four goals and an assist for the Polar Bears, while Matt Ward scored three times in the loss. Bowdoin goalkeeper Robert Hobbs was strong in the net, making 21 saves, and face-off man Ethan Barnard was 18-of-33 with 13 ground balls.
For more information on the NESCAC Tournament, head over to the tournament website
HERE.
--JUMBOS--
