The Jumbos fought until the final buzzer, and mounted comeback after comeback, but in the end fell short, losing 9-7 to Middlebury College. In front of six hundred people at Bello Field Wednesday night, Tufts dropped its third-straight NESCAC game to the fifth-ranked team in the country.
Junior Dane Carillo scored early in the first quarter to give Tufts a 1-0 lead. Middlebury answered by scoring the next three goals of the game.
The scrappy Jumbos responded by scoring two goals in the last 30 seconds of the second quarter, to take a 3-3 tie into halftime. The second of the two came just 0.3 seconds before the halftime buzzer, on a junior connection from Billy Granger to Michael Hughes for the score.
Middlebury opened the second half by again scoring three straight goals to go up 6-3. Tufts refused to go away, however, scoring the next two goals to cut the lead to just one.
Once again, a Middlebury mini-run gave them a little bit of breathing room, as they scored two goals to take a 8-5 lead. Tufts had one more run left in them, and scored two goals to pull within one yet again, but it would get no closer. Jamie Duke of Middlebury scored his second goal of the game with just under six-and-a-half minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and neither team scored again for the 9-7 final.
Senior tri-captain Bryan Griffin made his return for the Jumbos, playing for the first time since sustaining an injury March 30 against Amherst. Griffin did not start, with Carillo getting the nod ahead of him, but played on man-up situations. Unfortunately, Tufts had only two all game, and Griffin finished without a point.
Goalkeeper Alex Palmisano was outstanding for Middlebury, making 18 saves, including several after Tufts had cut the lead to one in the fourth quarter.
Tufts was led by senior tri-captain Devin Clarke, who had three points including two goals. Carillo finished with three goals and Granger had two assists. Senior goalkeeper Andy Starr played the entire 60 minutes and finished with eight saves.
Jim Cabrera had three goals for Middlebury, and Duke added two.
With this loss, Tufts fell to a record of 2-3 in NESCAC and 5-3 overall on the year. Middlebury, tied for first-place in the conference with Bowdoin, improved to 5-0 in the NESCAC.
