SALISBURY, MD (May 18, 2024) -- The No. 8 Tufts University men's lacrosse team outscored St. John Fisher University 7-0 in the second quarter, cruising to a 16-6 win over the Cardinals in the 2024 NCAA Division III Quarterfinals in action from Sea Gull Stadium on the campus of Salisbury University.
Tufts (16-3) will now advance to the NCAA Semifinals in Sea Gull Stadium on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. to battle No. 16 Washington & Lee University, which knocked off host and previously undefeated No. 1 Salisbury University 16-15 in overtime.
Tufts got on the board first at the 10:42 mark of the first quarter on a goal by
Jack Regnery, starting a three-goal run to open the first frame capped by a score from long-stick midfielder
Ben Clarke at 2:35. St. John Fisher (14-8) would get on the board at 1:22 of the opening frame, as Jordan Leuze netted his only goal of the game to send the game to the second with Tufts up 3-1.
The second quarter started quickly for Tufts as junior
Max Ettinghausen scored 35 seconds into the frame to start the decisive 7-0 spurt in the second quarter. Tufts outshot the Cardinals 13-3 in the second quarter, while forcing St. John Fisher into 10 turnovers in the frame. The second ended with a bullet from
Charlie Tagliaferri to make the score 10-1 at the break.
After intermission, Tufts scored five of the opening six goals of the half, including two straight from
Brooks Hauser to take a 15-2 edge going to the fourth quarter. SJFU would pull to within nine at 15-6, but that would be as close as the Cardinals would get as the Jumbos secured the win.
Sophomore
Jack Regnery continued his amazing season for the Jumbos, scoring four goals while tacking up two ground balls and an assist. Hauser and Ettinghausen each scored twice and dished out an assist, while
Garrett Kelly chalked up a goal and an assist.
For the third straight game, Tufts dominated at the face-off "X" on Saturday as
Victor Salcedo was 10-for-10 with seven ground balls.
Parker Merril was also 6-for-10 with five ground balls, while sophomore
Ethan O'Neill helped out and junior
Michael Ayers each scooped up three grounders.
Ben Frisoli scored once and also picked up two loose balls.
Freshman
Elliot Rutherford caused three turnovers, a team-high, while junior George Panagoppoulos had two caused turnovers and a ground ball. First-year
Logan Lee also picked up two grounders nad had a caused mistake in the win. Senior
Conner Garzone was stellar in net for the Jumbos, allowing just two goals while stopping seven shots for the win.
Ben Friedman played the final 15 minutes, making four stops.
Tufts outshot St. John Fisher 57-38 for the game, while winning the ground ball battle 47-29.
Brady Mason posted two goals and one assist to pace the Cardinals Saturday.
The Jumbos move into the NCAA semifinals for the fourth straight season, while Sunday will be Tufts' 10th appearance in the NCAA Final Four round.
--JUMBOS--
