The men's lacrosse team continued its winning ways this weekend when it doubled up the Bates Bobcats, 14-7, in NESCAC action in Lewiston, Maine, on Saturday afternoon. The win puts the Jumbos at 6-1 in the NESCAC (10-2) overall, with their only blemish being a one goal, overtime defeat to the nation's second ranked team, Middlebury.
The Jumbos kept pace with the Panthers, who narrowly defeated Trinity this weekend, 11-10, for first place in the NESCAC with just two conference games to play before the postseason tournament.
Tufts' 14-goal outburst increased its season total to 87 goals scored, tops in the NESCAC.
Despite the victory however, junior Bryan Griffin felt the squad did not play up to its potential.
"In general, I felt we played pretty sloppily," Griffin said. "In order to be where we want to be, we need to clean up all aspects of our game. We need to make that jump to where we know we can be, we're just not there yet."
The Jumbos once again showed their depth in the contest at Bates. Throughout the season, opponents have exerted much of their energy shutting down Griffin, which has forced other Jumbos to step up into the role of goal scorer.
For the last few games, that role player has been junior Devin Clarke, but on Saturday it was sophomore attackman Michael Hughes, who scored four consecutive goals early on for the Jumbos to set the tone, and had five total in the contest.
"Hughes played great, he worked real hard in the crease and found a way to get open all the time," Griffin said. "We were getting him the ball and he did a great job finding the net. All his hard work came together yesterday and I hope it gives him a lot more confidence for the rest of the season."
After a hard fought first quarter, both squads had managed to find the net three times.But in the second quarter Hughes took over, scoring all three of Tufts' goals in the quarter, while last week's NESCAC co-player of the week, junior goalie Luke Chicco, shut down the Bobcats offense, not allowing a score in the second.
While the Jumbos started to click in the second period, they still were not playing to their potential, only holding a three-goal lead against the 1-7 Bobcats. Players were getting open around the net, but a combination of missed shots and great goaltending held the Jumbos to just six goals at halftime.
"We knew we were better than Bates, we just needed to get settled in and get into our routine," Griffin said. "We pretty much let things come together, and told ourselves to keep shooting, and eventually the shots will find their way in."
Hughes continued his strong play in the third quarter, netting an early goal to put Tufts up 7-3. The Jumbos never looked back from there, outscoring Bates 8-4 in the second half to pick up the W.
The Jumbos continued to show their offensive depth as nine players all tallied goals. Sophomore Mike O'Brien chipped in with two goals, while Griffin, Clarke, freshmen Mark Warner, Brett Holm, and Matt Lanuto, sophomore Evan Saulsbury, and senior Drew Innis all added a goal apiece.
"Most teams rely on just one midfield line to score, and while we do rely heavily on our first midfield line, our second one has been playing great which has led to our success," Griffin said. "You need the midfield line to sustain the entire game, and we feel we have depth to do that. It's a real testament to coach Daly's recruiting and how hard he works in the off season to get everyone ready."
Chicco put in another solid performance for Tufts, playing the entire contest and making 12 saves while allowing seven goals.
The Jumbos head into the final week of the regular season tied for first place with Middlebury at 6-1. If the season were to end today, Tufts would earn the second seed in the playoffs because Middlebury owns the head to head advantage over the Jumbos. However, Tufts still must face off against Wesleyan College on Wednesday afternoon, and Connecticut College at home next Saturday with hopes of earning the top spot in the conference and hosting the tournament.
