The Western New England College (WNEC) men's lacrosse team smiled and high−fived as it ate postgame snacks yesterday at Bello Field. It looked as if they had done the improbable — knocked off Div. III national No. 1 Tufts and become the first team since, well, themselves in the NCAA tournament in the spring of 2009 to beat the Jumbos on Bello.
But the problem with the scene was that, in fact, the Golden Bears had lost. Granted, it was a close game. It was closer than anybody had expected, including the Golden Bears themselves, or else they wouldn't have been celebrating some sort of moral victory.
The Jumbos ultimately gritted out a 14−13 victory yesterday afternoon, moving to 6−0 on the season. But the win didn't come easily. WNEC caught Tufts in the midst of a defensive lapse at the start of the second half, which the squad took advantage of by going on a 4−0 run to start the quarter and eventually tying the game at 10. The Jumbos had pulled away late in the second quarter to take a 9−4 lead going into halftime, but slowed tremendously from the get−go of the third frame. It wasn't quite complacency; it was simply a lack of the usual tenacity that has carried this team to great heights over the past season and a half.
The problem for Tufts early in the second half seemed to be that WNEC had too much space on offense while the Tufts offense didn't have enough, causing the Jumbos to force their shots in a way that gave the Golden Bears' goalie Brewster Knowlton no trouble at all. Tufts' defensive players weren't closing the gaps quickly enough. The Golden Bears were left with several open midrange shots, and after the first few went in, NESCAC co−Player of the Week junior goalie Steven Foglietta got a little shell−shocked. He started to leave his pipes a second before he should have in an attempt to be proactive — almost overly aggressive — and stop the bleeding, but that ultimately backfired as it left space for WNEC to slip in shots when it normally wouldn't have had the angle. Coach Mike Daly made the switch to freshman goalie Patton Watkins in an attempt to calm the nerves of his scrambling defense.
But through the adversity, Tufts held on. It was a gritty win. Key players made key plays, and there was hustle from every player on the field. Watkins made two of the most impressive saves of his short collegiate lacrosse career late in the fourth quarter to seal the game. Senior quad−captain attackman D.J. Hessler showed his field smarts as usual, racking up three goals and four assists to lead his team. Junior attackman Sean Kirwan and junior midfielder Kevin McCormick continued their solid play, scoring four and three goals, respectively. And although they don't show up on the stat sheet, pure hustle plays like sophomore Sam Diss's successful race to the end line against a WNEC attackman after a shot, which gave the Jumbos possession late in the fourth quarter, were the difference between winning and losing.
The close game will be useful for the future. If Wesleyan had a chance of catching Tufts on an off−day this Saturday, that chance is now kaput.
