Griffin looks to lead team to another year of success

Bryan Griffin can only get better.

Last year, the attackman garnered two of Div. III lacrosse's most heralded awards, winning both NESCAC and New England Player of the Year.

He started all 17 games for the Jumbos at attack, leading the squad in all three major statistical categories with 41 goals, 23 assists and 64 total points.

Most importantly, he scored game winning goals in Tufts' two playoff victories last season, a 14-13 win over Bowdoin and an 8-7 upset of Wesleyan, leading the team all the way to the NESCAC Championship game.

And this was all as a sophomore.

Griffin looks to come back strong for his junior campaign and try to lead the team to another NESCAC Championship game and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

"We certainly have the tools this year, and as of now we're looking even better than we did last year," Griffin said. "It's just a matter of pushing each other."

Griffin will be one of the team's main offensive options, and his teammates will look for him to command on and off the field.

"We look to Bryan as one of the leaders on the team just because of the way he plays and how good he is," senior tri-captain Tom Mulcahy said. "We're looking for him to be one of the best attack men in the country.

"He's working really hard to have a better season than he did last year, which will be hard to do after his performance last year," Mulcahy said.

Coach Mike Daly agreed. "Griffin is a really great player because he is so full of leadership, so full of hard work, so full of dedication to the game," Daly said. "We don't want Bryan to do anything more than he's doing other than to maintain where he is."

However, due to his success last season, Griffin expects his role on the team to expand due to opposing teams defending him earlier and with more pressure.

"I think I'm definitely going to be a goal scorer," Griffin explained. "But at the same time, people have a better idea of what I'm doing this year so my passes will have to be better. I'm going to look to hit open sticks and make my teammates better because the slide is going to come earlier this year."

As of now, Griffin can only improve his skills and has worked hard all throughout the off season on both his goal scoring techniques and his field sense, both of which will help him distribute the ball more effectively when defenses double team him.

"Griff [Griffin] is such a hard worker, he always goes over and above my expectations," Mulcahy said. "A lot of people don't see it, but with how hard he works, I definitely think he still can improve and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he did top last year."