The men's lacrosse team has pushed its unbeaten streak to eight.
The nationally ranked No. 5 Jumbos (8-0, 5-0 NESCAC) rebounded from a close comeback win against Wesleyan over the weekend with a resounding 22-3 defeat of conference opponent Bates (2-7, 0-5) on Tuesday night.
Bello Field was host to Tufts' third 20-plus goal performance of the season. The convincing victory was the Jumbos' most recent case for the top Div. III national ranking.
The game remained scoreless for the first 10 minutes until Tufts sophomore midfielder Matt Witko broke the deadlock with 4:50 remaining in the quarter. Witko beat freshman goalie Adam Scharff again just two minutes later, but Bates kept the score close heading into the first break, as sophomore midfielder Evan Bagley buried a goal in the final minute of the opening quarter to cut the score to 2-1. Sophomore attackman Ryan Molloy netted his first tally on the evening only 18 seconds later to keep the Tufts margin at two goals.
Heading into the second quarter, the conference's best offense, averaging 16.43 goals per game thus far, went to work. Molloy followed his first-quarter goal with four more consecutive goals and six of the Jumbos' next seven scores.
Fellow sophomore linemate D.J. Hessler fed Molloy on all four of his second-quarter goals to make the score 7-1, and junior tri-captain midfielder Mike Droesch assisted Hessler's scoring finish to move the tally to 8-1 heading into the half. In the third, Droesch found Molloy for two quick goals before a host of Jumbos joined the action to push the score to 18-1 by the end of the period.
Bates was held scoreless for over 40 minutes after the Bobcats' first goal, allowing the Jumbos to go on an 18-goal run before finally breaking through the stingy Tufts defense late in the fourth. Sophomore midfielder George O'Connor beat Tufts sophomore goalie Bryan Petillo with only 4:47 remaining, but freshman midfielder Sean Kirwan responded, posting a trio of goals in the fourth quarter to seal the 23-3 win.
"The defense has been playing pretty strong so far," senior tri-captain and defenseman Jordan Yarboro said. "We're always trying to get that complete game from our guys, and yesterday was definitely a great effort on the defensive side of the ball. I think we finally got that 60-minute effort on that end. We've got a good rotation going right now, and we're making sure that everyone is getting their rest so we're fresh late in the season."
Molloy enjoyed his best offensive showing on the season, netting eight goals, one shy of the Tufts single-game record, and registering two assists. Linemates Hessler and senior tri-captain Clem McNally were not bad, either -- Hessler, who leads the NESCAC in points and assists at 41 and 25 respectively, tallied a hat trick and spread around four assists, while McNally, the NESCAC goals leader with 29, added two goals and two assists.
After Tuesday night's game against the Bobcats, the Jumbos attack unit now accounts for over half the team's goals and total points.
"I think that our team plays so well together that if I can just get open, then people are going to get me the ball," Molloy said. "Also with Clem having so many great games early this year, people are maybe putting more focus on him as well as D.J., who's also playing real well. I'm getting a couple more opportunities and trying to take advantage of them."
By the end of the game, Tufts had outshot the visitors 58 to 21 and had convincingly won the groundball battle, 59 to 39. Senior netminder Matt Harrigan backed 10 saves in the winning effort and now boasts a .607 save percentage.
A huge aspect of the Jumbos' effort was their control of ball possession and faceoffs, taking 22 of 28 in the game. Droesch pushed his season winning percentage to 61 percent with a 9-for-11 effort at the draw. Freshman midfielder Nick Rhoads continued his successful rookie campaign backing up Droesch, going 11 for 12.
After a visit to Trinity this Saturday, the Jumbos will face a slew of nationally ranked teams. No. 10 Western New England, No. 7 Middlebury, No. 12 Endicott and No. 13 Bowdoin all await the undefeated Jumbos, who lead the NESCAC in every major offensive category.
"We just have so many weapons right now," Molloy said. "Whether it's our attack guys getting looks or our middies scoring goals, we're just really locked in. Our faceoff guys have been doing a great job keeping possession of the ball and getting it back to us on offense, and the defense has been holding it down as well. We're getting a great effort from everyone."
"One of my preseason goals was to improve every day and to keep focusing on each game as they come," Yarboro added. "But having said that, no one's goal was to win just the first eight games -- we want to win every game that we play and win a national championship. Until we get there, though, we've got to just keep our focus on what's right in front of us."
