MEDFORD, MA (May 9, 2024) -- The No. 8 Tufts University men's lacrosse team will get back to work this weekend with the start of the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament, as the Jumbos will travel to Union College in Schenectady, NY to battle Illinois Wesleyan University in the NCAA Second Round Saturday at noon. The winner of that contest will take on the winner of Saturday's second game with Union College and Stevenson University on Sunday afternoon.
Game Details
NCAA Tournament Website -
Bracket
Schedule:
Saturday, May 11
No. 8 Tufts (13-3) vs. Illinois Wesleyan (14-3) - 12 p.m.
No. 12 Union (12-5) vs. Stevenson (13-6) - 3 p.m.
Sunday, May 12
Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner - 3 p.m.
Location: Schenectady, NY - Frank Bailey Field -
Directions
Live Coverage:
LIVE STATS -
LIVE VIDEO
Against The Weekend's Competition
The Jumbos will battle Illinois Wesleyan for the first time in program history this weekend, and Tufts will be the second New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) team that the Titans have played as IWU fell to Connecticut College back in 2017, 13-10. Tufts has played host Union College five times, including earlier this season in Medford with the Jumbos taking a 24-5 victory on March 26.
Tufts has played Stevenson nine times prior to this weekend, with the Jumbos posting a 6-3 all-time record. The last meeting between SU and Tufts was in 2019, when Tufts knocked off Stevenson 19-7 in Owings Mills, MD. Saturday will be the first all-time meeting between Union and Stevenson.
Jumbos Profiled (13-3, 9-1 NESCAC)
The Jumbos will have had two weeks off since their last game, an 14-13 overtime loss to Hamilton College in the NESCAC quarterfinals. Prior to that game though, Tufts had won five straight including four straight wins over Top 20 opponents.
Tufts enters the weekend with the nation's fourth-best scoring offense, as Tufts is averaging 17.88 goals per game while its 6.06 goal scoring margin is also tops in the NESCAC and 24th best in Division III. One of the strengths of the squad this season and in past year's is its ability to get loose balls, as Tufts was first in the NESCAC in grounders with 43.25 a game. Tufts was ninth nationally in the statistic as well.
The Jumbos also led the NESCAC in clearing percentage, caused turnovers per game and face-off winning percentage this season. On offense, sophomore
Jack Regnery is 15th in the nation in points per game with 5.50 while his 3.69 goals per game was 11th in the country and first in the NESCAC. Regnery also led the Jumbos in assists with 28.
Junior
Max Ettinghausen tallied 44 goals and 18 assists, and sophomore
Brooks Hauser eclipsed the 40-goal plateau while adding 22 helpers for 62 points. All-NESCAC middies Charlie Taglaferri and
Garrett Kelly each scored 31 goals this season, while second-line middies
Kevin Christmas,
Sam Frisoli and
Louis Timmins have combined for 18 goals.
Defensively,
Joey Waldbaum earned All-NESCAC First Team once again after leading the team in caused turnovers with 28. He also scooped up 60 grounders and added seven points offensively.
Ben Frisoli has been a dynamic long-stick midfielder for the Jumbos with 18 caused turnovers and 41 ground balls, while
Michael Ayers also caused 17 turnovers. Close defender
George Panagopoulos also has posted 18 grounders and 12 caused mistakes.
At the "X,"
Parker Merril has won 60.4 percent of his draws while leading the team with 92 ground balls and sophomore
Victor Salcedo also has a 57.1 winning rate with 86 loose balls. Senior Connor Garzone has started all 16 games for Tufts, making 176 saves while stopping 51.8 percent of attempts on goal.
A Look At Illinois Wesleyan (14-3)
The Titans come into the weekend winners in their last 12 games, including a 14-10 win over Aurora University in Bloomington, Illinois on Wednesday. IWU was the winner of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament, knocking off Carthage and Elmhurst to earn the automatic bid.
IWU is offensively driven as the Titans rank first in the CCIW in points, goals, scoring offense and scoring margin. Illinois Wesleyan is sixth in the country in ground balls per game with 43.59, while also ranking 12th in scoring offense with 16.71 goals per night.
The Titans are paced by Gage Black, who has a team-high 4.12 points per game while leading NCAA Division III in man-up goals with 14. Along with his 70 points, Timothy McHugh has posted 16 goals and 35 assists for 51 points, and Trystan Seeley is second on the team with 34 goals. Sam Weinberg and Ike Eastburn also have 31 tallies on the season.
Michael Rocco and Zo Lombardo have taken the majority of the draws, while Lombardo has won 172 face-offs while adding 67 ground balls. Michael Campagne has 31 caused turnovers on the season as well as 50 loose balls, and Sam Skelton also has 28 caused turnovers. Colin Tervo has started 14 of 16 games in the net for the Titans, making 181 saves.
Head coach Zach Iannuci is the only head coach in IWU program history, helping the Titans six NCAA Tournament appearances and four NCAA Tournament wins since 2014.
The Other Side
Host Union College is 12-5 on the season, but has been tough to beat home with an unblemished 7-0 record on Frank Bailey Field. The Dutchmen won their first seven games of the 2024 season, including wins over NESCAC foes Williams and Middlebury before falling to Tufts on March 26.
Union is coming off a 26-9 loss at RIT in the Liberty League semifinals, after defeating Clarkson University 12-9 in the quarterfinals. Union has one of the best face-off men in the entire nation in Matthew Paolatto, who comes into the weekend winning 71.1 percent of his draws. He also is eighth in the nation in ground balls per game with 10.88.
The Dutchmen are strong as well with the extra man, posting a 48.9 percent man-up rate. Offensively, Peter Kip leads the team in goals and assists with 65 points while Michael Shaw has started all 17 games on attack and tallied 38 times to go with 21 assists. Jake Mabardy also has 26 goals and 20 helpers on the year.
John Sula and Shaine Luzietti each have 13 caused turnovers for the Dutchmen, and goalkeeper Dan Donahue has started all 17 games while stopping 52.6 percent of shots. Head coach Derek Witheford is in his fifth season, helping guide the team to a NCAA championship game appearance in 2022.
Stevenson University was the winner of the MAC Commonwealth title, knocking off Eastern University 21-3 in the final. SU has won five straight games coming into the tournament, while is offense has been humming tallying 25 goals per game over that span.
The Mustangs have played a very difficult schedule, with all six of its losses coming to teams in the USILA Top 20 poll. SU ranks 11th in the nation in scoring offense with 17.05 goals per game, while its man-up rate of 57.0 percent is second in Division III. Stevenson also ranks top 10 in D-III in assists and points.
Grant Zick has a team-high 79 points for the Mustangs, while Max Racich has tallied 72 points on 50 goals and 22 assists. Darrell Curtis also has 44 goals on the season, and Ryan Quinn has posted a team-high 29 caused turnovers. Conor Halpin has won 62.7 percent of his draws this year, adding 171 ground balls, and Justin Scorese has started all 19 games posting a 46.3 percent save clip.
Head coach Paul Cantabene has led his squad to the NCAA Tournament 14 times, including a 2013 national championship.
Other Things To Watch
Three other NESCAC schools qualified for the NCAA Tournament, while league champs Wesleyan University will serve as hosts this weekend, taking on St. John Fisher this weekend. The winner of the Union pod will take on the last team standing from Wesleyan's pod next weekend. Middlebury College is at Dickinson College this weekend to take on SUNY Geneseo, and Bowdoin will battle Grove City College at RPI.
--JUMBOS--
