The men's lacrosse team redeemed itself with a decisive 10-4 victory over the Colby White Mules in Maine on Saturday. After suffering a tough overtime loss to Middlebury the previous Wednesday, Tufts buried the Mules to move to 8-2 on the season and 4-1 in the NESCAC.
Sophomore attackman Billy Granger and junior goalie Luke Chicco led the Jumbos on Saturday. Granger tallied three goals and two assists for five points while Chicco stopped 13 and allowed just four goals, the fewest scored against a Jumbo squad in over two years. The junior earned NESCAC co-player of the week honors with Bowdoin goalie Grant White for his performance last week.
Granger's first goal came off a fast break after the midfield hurried the ball up to the attack. Freshman Mark Warner, who also notched two goals on the day, fed Granger in front of the net, allowing the shot and subsequent goal.
"The midfield did a great job in getting the ball to the offensive side," Granger said. "Things become very easy when your teammates are doing the right things."
"Billy has been playing very well and more important, very consistently," coach Mike Daly said. "The best thing about his play is that nothing stands out -- he just makes plays and is not flashy about it."
Tufts jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after the first quarter. Colby matched the Jumbos goal for goal in the second fifteen minutes with two scores, but faded after halftime.
Chicco and the Tufts defense allowed just one goal after the intermission. With the defense firing on all cylinders and keeping the ball as far from the crease as possible, the offense was able to outshoot the Mules 36 to 25 on the day. Of those 25 shots, Chicco stopped 76.5 percent.
"Our defense played amazing," Granger said. "They made it possible for the offense to control the ball."
"The offense [also] made great decisions of when to push the ball and when to settle down and possess," Daly added.
Tufts wrapped up its scoring in the second half with three goals in its ever-productive third quarter, and one more tally in the final fifteen minutes. Aside from Granger and Warner's combined five goals, junior Devin Clarke also recorded two scores while sophomores Mike O'Brien and Michael Hughes as well as senior tri-captain Tom Mulcahy each contributed one goal.
Junior attackman Bryan Griffin helped the Tufts offense as well, dishing the ball twice for assists. As opponents now play Griffin tighter due to his explosive goal production, the All-American has adjusted his style to make more passes rather than going for goals. Griffin's 23 season assists thus far matches his total for the 2003 season while his 28 2004 goals are far fewer than the 41 he scored last year.
Though the win over Colby undoubtedly helped the Jumbos recover from the tough Middlebury defeat, the team is looking more towards the future and less to previous games for motivation.
"Middlebury was behind us [against Colby]," Granger said. "You can't dwell on any game, there's no time for celebration or for mourning. We have to focus on one game at a time. Colby is over and now we need to focus on Amherst."
Tufts will face off against the Lord Jeffs tomorrow at home at 4:00 p.m. Amherst, ranked 20th in the nation, currently sits just behind the second place and 14th ranked Jumbos with a 3-2 league record.
"Amherst will be a great game. They are tough and we have had a lot of great battles with them over the past three seasons," Daly said. "[Wednesday] will be another one of those games again. Our team needs to stay focused on our game and our consistency."
