The men's lacrosse team saw its season come to a close in somewhat disappointing fashion when it fell 10-7 to the Amherst Lord Jeffs on April 30 in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs. The Jumbos, who were seeded fifth in the tournament, lost to Amherst for the second time this season, and finished the year at 8-6 overall, 5-4 in the NESCAC.
The Jeffs then visited defending national champion Middlebury in the second round, where they lost 16-5, finishing the season at 9-7 (5-4). Middlebury went on to win the NESCAC championship.
"It was definitely disappointing," senior co-captain David Supple said. "We would've liked to win that one. We weren't satisfied ending in the first round."
The loss put an end to a season full of ups and downs for the Jumbos, who lost in the first round of the NESCAC tournament for the second year in a row.
"It was pretty tough, because I think we felt we were better than Amherst," freshman Bryan Griffin said. "We tried to do things we did all season to win, but it didn't work out."
The team began the year with high expectations, despite the loss of all-time leading scorer Dan Kollar to graduation. These expectations were met early on in the season, as the Jumbos raced out to a 5-1 start, including a 2-0 mark in the NESCAC.
One of those early NESCAC victories was a 10-8 win over Bowdoin, then ranked 15th in the nation. It was the first time the Jumbos had defeated the Polar Bears since 1994, and the team's confidence was high following the upset, as it was tied for first place in the NESCAC.
Tufts saw a good opportunity to jump to 3-0 on the season the following weekend, as it squared off against a Williams team it had defeated the previous season. As the game entered the closing minutes, it appeared as if things were headed in the Jumbos favor. The team completed a comeback from four goals down to knot the game at ten with under a minute left to play. As the clock wound down, however, Williams senior Scott Goldberg beat senior goalkeeper Kirk Lutwyler to give the Ephs the victory as time expired.
After suffering a solid 17-6 thumping at the hands of Middlebury the next week, the Jumbos found themselves at 2-2. They were in serious danger of falling below .500 in NESCAC play for the first time, with a game against the undefeated Colby White Mules looming in the near future. The Jumbos proved the were up to the challenge, however, and handed Colby, then ranked 20th in the nation, its first NESCAC loss of the season, 7-5.
A pattern that started in the beginning of the season proved to be a theme for the Jumbos, as the squad continually stepped up and came through in big games, but struggled in somewhat less important contests against weaker competition.
Tufts followed the Colby win with a 13-7 loss to Amherst, and a crushing 12-11 overtime defeat at the hands of Bates. Despite leading Bates 11-6 with just 5:40 left in regulation, the Bobcats rattled off five unanswered goals to tie the game at eleven. Bates scored the game winner just 18 second into the first overtime.
"The wins (against Bowdoin and Colby) were huge," Supple said. "The Bates game I look at as bizarre, and the Williams game we weren't ready to win and we didn't play like we should have won. It just shows that we had things to improve on."
After the two losses, the team that had looked like a lock for the playoffs and possibly even home field advantage was now in danger of missing the post season all together. The Jumbos rallied, however, and scored wins in their last two games of the season against Connecticut College and Wesleyan to secure the fifth seed in the playoffs.
"Anyone can beat anyone on any given day because the division is so close. If you don't show up, or if one team has a great day, anything can happen," Griffin said. "I don't think we lived up to our goals as a team this season. Maybe we did somewhat by making the playoffs, but we wanted to win the NESCAC championship and prove how good we were."
Despite not realizing all of its goals, there were many bright spots for the team this year, perhaps the brightest of which was Griffin. After not starting the first few games of the season, the freshman went on to be an every game starter. He led the team in scoring with 44 points in the form of 30 goals and 14 assists, filling a void left by Kollar's departure. This impressive first year campaign culminated in NESCAC rookie of the year honors for Griffin, the only Tufts representative in the All-NESCAC selections.
"I'm honestly really thrilled. I thought I had a chance, but I had kind of a tough stretch in the middle of the season. I thought the close games at the end of the season might have hurt my chances," Griffin said. "To tell the truth I was just hoping to start at the beginning of the season."
Coach Mike Daly is often asked if he is surprised by Griffin's performance. Based on Griffin's high school record, Daly said he knew Griffin would be a solid player.
"Once he got here and I saw the amount of work and extra work he did, I'm not surprised at all," Daly said. "He was always down here working with coaches, watching films, in the cage by himself, and it's the players who work the hardest who end up being the best."
Griffin will be an important element of a team next year that will have a much different look to it after the loss of many key players to graduation. The team will be without midfielders Supple and Jack Palmer, attackmen Jon Zissi, co-captain Jim Mandler, and Chris Taylor, as well as Lutwyler in goal. Supple, Palmer, Taylor, Mandler and Zissi accounted for five of the team's top eight scorers, and the offensive production will certainly be missed.
Even more important than the numbers, however, will be the leadership and the legacy the seniors left behind. After winning only 15 games from 1995-1998, the seniors led to the team to more than double that amount in their fours years.
"The reality is that you can never replace the guys that are leaving," Daly said. "The program owes a great debt to those guys. They really made the program one of the top in New England."
Lutwyler may prove to be the most important loss however, as the senior has proven to be one of the top goalies in the NESCAC in his four years as a starter, compiling a 10.03 goals against average, 58.6 save percentage, and 790 saves in an astounding 3343 minutes of playing time. Despite the vacuous hole left in net with Lutwyler's departure, the team boasts a number of solid candidates to take over the job. As a strong potential prospect to fill Lutwyler's shoes, sophomore goalie Brian Atherton said that the position is really up for grabs.
"The team is in a new position because Kirk was a four year starter, and the goalie before him was a four year starter. Going into next season, we'll have at least three goalies competing to start," he said. "While I feel that any of us would do fine, how we react to the pressure of playing a tough schedule will determine not only who leads the team, but also our success as a team."
Despite falling short of their goals, the Jumbos are pleased with their effort this season and are optimistic for next year.
"I thought we had a pretty good season and it was just a great time," Supple said. "Everybody wanted to win and it was great to be on a team like that. For the most part we all did everything we could to win games."
Although the team is losing many players, Tufts' defense remains intact, and the team possesses a number of younger players who did not see much of the field this year, and have yet to step up.
"We're all good players, and I think the team will miss us, but we're replaceable," Supple said. "There are guys who didn't get a lot of playing time this year and will see a lot more next year. If I was coming back I would definitely be excited about this team."
