MEDFORD, MA (May 3, 2025) -- The Tufts University men's lacrosse team, the top seed in the 2025 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Tournament and the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation, poured in 23 goals to roll to a 23-10 win over fifth-seed and No. 18 Middlebury College in NESCAC semifinals in a warm day on Bello Field Saturday afternoon.
Tufts (17-0) extended its nation's best win streak to 22 games on Saturday, as the Jumbos advanced to the NESCAC Championship game Sunday at noon to take on No. 3 seed and No. 6 Wesleyan University. Wesleyan defeated No. 2 seed and No. 5 Bowdoin College in the day's second semifinal 9-8 in a back-and-forth battle. The Jumbos are in pursuit of their 13th NESCAC title, sixth in the last seven years and 13th in the last 15 seasons. They are hosting the finals for the 10th time.
The Jumbos wasted no time getting the offense rolling, as junior middie
Garrett Kelly tallied back-to-back goals just 61 seconds apart in the early going to make it 2-0 after just 2:31 of the game. After Middlebury got on the board at 11:04 of the first quarter on a Finn McCarthy goal, NESCAC Player of the Year
Jack Regnery scored two goals in just 16 seconds to up the Jumbos edge to 4-1 at 7:27 of the opening frame.
Less than a minute later, senior
Louis Timmins struck in transition to increase the Jumbos lead to 5-1 and
Ben Frisoli netted a man-down pole goal with 26 seconds to play in the opening frame to make it 8-2 going to the second.
The 7-0 run for Tufts would continue into the second quarter, finishing with a man-up goal from Regnery with 7:20 remaining in the first half to give the Jumbos a double-digit lead at 12-2. Middlebury netted a pair of goals from McCarthy and Russell Thorndike to stop the Jumbos run, but Tufts responded with three straight including a
Cam Delcristo score with 3:18 to make it 15-4. The Panthers would net two goals just before halftime to make it 15-6 at the intermission.
Tufts would start to substitute in the third quarter and still was able to grow its lead, as first-years
Davis Owens,
Henry Tweedy and
Nick George highlighted the scoring in the second half to help the Jumbos close out the semifinal victory.
The Jumbos nearly doubled up Middlebury in the shot column with a 62-35 edge, while also forcing Middlebury into 26 turnovers on the day.
Regnery led all players with seven points on four goals and three assists, adding three ground balls, while junior
Brooks Hauser scored on all four of his shots on goal Saturday.
Sophomore
Will Emsing finished with three points on two assists and a score, while Frisoli and Kelly each had a pair of scores. In all, Tufts saw 15 players find the back of the net Saturday afternoon. Frisoli added two caused turnovers with his two goals, while Owens also forced two mistakes to go with his first collegiate score and three grounders.
First-year
Mack Leonhartt had three ground balls and two caused turnovers, and Tufts played all five goalkeepers once again as
Conner Garzone was steady in his half of action with seven stops. Senior
Ben Friedman had five saves and two goals allowed, and first-year
Alex Dircks stopped two shots as well.
Middlebury leading scorer Billy Curtis finished with three goals and three assists in the loss, while Thorndike had three scores and two assists as well. The Panthers were strong at the "X" on Saturday, as Noah Filippelli was 9-for-12 with William Monroe also winning 15 of his 25 draws with eight ground balls.
Tufts and Wesleyan will meet in the NESCAC finals for the fourth time on Saturday, with the Jumbos earning the conference crown in 2018 and 2013 while Wesleyan topped tufts in 2009.
--JUMBOS--
