No. 1 Men's Lacrosse Erases Early Deficit To Knock off Hamilton 18-10 Saturday

CLINTON, NY (April 18, 2026) -- The Tufts University men's lacrosse team erased an early deficit and then overwhelmed hosting Hamilton College with a dominant second-half surge, as the No. 1 Jumbos pulled away for an 18-10 win on Saturday afternoon at Steuben Field.

Hamilton (8-6, 5-5 NESCAC) came out firing and dictated the early tempo, winning the opening face-off and striking quickly. Jesse Delinsky opened the scoring just 55 seconds in, and Thomas Healy followed moments later to make it 2-0 before Tufts had settled in. After a turnover led to another transition chance, Carson Kraus extended the lead to 3-0 midway through the first quarter, putting the Jumbos in an unfamiliar early hole.

Tufts began to respond behind Jack Regnery, who ignited the offense with a pair of goals. His first, assisted by Brooks Hauser, got the Jumbos on the board, and he followed with an unassisted strike to cut the deficit to one. But Hamilton continued to answer. Maddux Little scored with 27 seconds left in the quarter, and after Regnery completed a first-quarter hat trick just eight seconds later, Healy buried a late goal with six seconds remaining to give Hamilton a 5-3 lead after one in a back-and-forth opening frame.

The second quarter marked the turning point. Tufts tightened defensively and began to control possession, fueled by improved face-off play and ground ball wins.

Jackson Redd opened the quarter scoring off a feed from Will Emsing, and Regnery tied the game at 5-5 with another finish off a Hauser assist. Although Hamilton briefly regained the lead on an unassisted goal from Frank Coyle, Tufts responded with a decisive three-goal burst. Hauser scored off an Emsing assist to even the game again, and Peter Kraemer gave Tufts its first lead at 7-6 with 1:48 remaining in the half. The Jumbos carried that momentum into halftime, having outscored Hamilton 4-1 in the period.

Tufts extended its advantage in the third quarter with a methodical and efficient offensive stretch. Garrett Kelly scored twice in a span of under two minutes, first off a Logan Lee assist in transition and then from Emsing, to push the lead to 9-6. Hamilton attempted to stay within striking distance, as Little and Healy each scored to trim the margin to one at 9–8. But Tufts answered once again, this time with a four-goal run that created separation. Emsing sparked the stretch with an unassisted goal, Chase Beyer followed off a Regnery assist, and despite a late Hamilton goal from Kraus, the Jumbos carried an 11-9 lead into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter belonged entirely to Tufts. After drawing a slashing penalty just over a minute in, the Jumbos capitalized immediately, as Beyer scored back-to-back goals, one at even strength and one on the man-up, to extend the lead to 13-9. Regnery added another, and Kraemer finished a feed from Nick George to make it 15-9 as Tufts seized complete control.

The Jumbos continued to pour it on with their extra-man unit, converting again when Beyer struck for his fourth goal of the day during another man-up opportunity. Moments later, Regnery notched his sixth goal, capping a dominant individual performance and stretching the lead to 17-9. Hamilton briefly halted the run with a goal from Wyatt Estepp, but Redd answered quickly with an unassisted finish to close out the scoring at 18-10.

Regnery led all scorers with six goals and three assists for a nine-point day, while Beyer added four goals, including two man-up tallies in the fourth quarter. Regnery pulled to within with eight goals of the all-time program record of 237, set by John Uppgren back in 2016. 

Hauser and Emsing each recorded four-point performances, combining for six assists to help orchestrate the offense. Hauser upped his career goal mark to 151, passing three Jumbos in the process as he moved into sixth all-time. 

Tufts' balance was evident throughout, with seven different players scoring goals and 13 assists on 18 tallies. Redd, Kelly and Kraemer each had two goals apiece.

After a slow start, Tufts asserted control in nearly every statistical category, finishing with a 52-33 edge in shots and a 55-43 advantage in ground balls. The Jumbos also dominated at the face-off X after the first quarter, winning 20 of 32 draws, and capitalized on extra-man opportunities, going 2-for-3 in the fourth quarter to break the game open.

In goal, Jack Old made eight saves over more than 54 minutes to earn the win, while the Tufts defense tightened considerably after the opening quarter, limiting Hamilton to just five goals over the final three periods. Lee had a team-high five caused turnovers, adding two grounders and Davis Owens added two caused turnovers. 

Salcedo was 9-for-16 with eight grounders, and Lucas De la Paz also won 11 of his 16 draws while scooping up six grounders. Mack Leonhartt and Ben Clarke also each added three ground balls. 

Healy had three goals and an assist for the Continentals, while Little and Kraus both had two scores for Hamilton. Jack Williams made 17 stops as well for Hamilton in goal. 

With the victory, Tufts increased its win streak to 41 games, tops among all NCAA lacrosse teams. 

The Jumbos will now turn their attention to Wednesday evening's season finale, hosting No. 2 Bowdoin College on Bello Field at 7 p.m. in a battle for the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament starting next Saturday, April 25.

--JUMBOS--