The No. 4 men's lacrosse team is in some serious need of a pick-me-up.
That is not to say that a 10-1 record is anything to shake a stick at, but for a team that began the season blowing out the NESCAC, two consecutive low-scoring, one-goal games — the first a loss to No. 16 Endicott and the next a 6-5 win over unranked Conn. College — are alarmingly uncharacteristic.
The Jumbos have now had a week to regroup and fine-tune their high-powered offense, which they hope will help them break into double digits again. When the team travels to No. 10 Middlebury tomorrow for a NESCAC showdown, the Panthers will have their hands full with Jumbo offense.
Middlebury, however, has history on its side. The Jumbos have not defeated the Panthers on the road in coach Mike Daly's 13-year tenure, but a win on Saturday could give Tufts a second wind heading toward the postseason.
The team is focused on dealing with an issue that has plagued them over the last two games: time of possession, a stat mostly controlled by faceoff wins, ground balls and successful clears.
"I think it has a lot to do with ground balls," sophomore defenseman John Heard said of the team's possession difficulties. "We have to get the ball off the ground and up the field. We were able to do that in the beginning part of the season, but recently we've been struggling in transition. But we've been working on that all week."
The matchup at the face-off circle will be key for these two high-scoring teams. Junior midfielder specialist Nick Rhoads averages a 53.5 faceoff percentage, while Middlebury's midfield combination of sophomore Brian Foster and junior Peter Jennings even out to a 43.8 win percentage. This could allow Rhoads to dominate on the X and may give Tufts' intimidating offense some breathing room with the ball.
In terms of defensive ground balls, the Jumbos should have the advantage, too, having picked up 14 more than Middlebury this season. Tufts has arguably the most aggressive defense in the league compared to a conservative Middlebury unit and, accompanied by the Jumbos' hunger for another NESCAC blowout, could translate into an edge for Tufts.
When it comes to clear percentage, Middlebury boasts a slightly better 87.1 percent success rate compared to Tufts' 80 percent. But, again, the Jumbos' aggressive defensive style comes into play when considering that their opponents only successfully reach the box 77.6 percent of the time.
And that aggression applies to Tufts' own clearing game, as well. Freshman goalie Patton Watkins has proved he can get the ball far out of his end with remarkable speed, and the athleticism of Tufts' longstick players and defensive midfielders adds up to a transition game that could easily catch the Panthers on their heels.
Beyond that, Middlebury has two losses on its season — to Wesleyan and Amherst — teams that Tufts' handled 15-8 and 13-9, respectively.
"We don't look at other scores like that," junior attackman Sean Kirwan said. "You can't do that in the NESCAC because that's how you lose games. … We know that we're going to get the best game out of Middlebury, and they're going to get the best game out of us. We know it's going to be a dogfight. We just have to get out there and play our best."
Two things could swing this dogfight in Middlebury's favor: home-field advantage and star senior co-captain midfielder David Hild. The Panthers are a perfect 6-0 on Youngman Field this year, and the stands are sure to be relatively full as Middlebury fans will be holding hopes of an upset of the defending national champions. Tufts' only loss this season came on the road, and Middlebury's hostile crowd could play a role in boosting the Panthers' chances.
Hild, meanwhile, is second in the conference in points per game and goals per game, ranking only behind Tufts senior quad-captain D.J. Hessler and Kirwan, respectively, in those categories. He is an offensive force capable of Hessler- and Kirwan-esque performances, like his eight-point game against Bowdoin on April 9 and six-goal season opener against Bates.
Yet Hild can be inconsistent. In Middlebury's loss to Amherst, the senior was held to zero points on seven shots and, when he scored just two goals against Skidmore, it took two overtime periods for Middlebury to earn the win.
The Jumbos' are unfazed by Hild's stat sheet.
"We don't really care about matchups," Heard said. "All of our defensive players and midfield are all talented, and we know that we can cover anyone, so it doesn't really change anything."
There are a lot of stakes riding on this game. The Jumbos are looking for a return to form with a double-digit scoring performance to re-establish dominance over the NESCAC. Middlebury is looking to catch the Jumbos in a slump and show the national contender form it has exhibited in the past.
"We're just going to keep sticking to the basics," Kirwan said. "We're going to keep doing what we're doing. We come out to practice every day to keep our game plan fresh in our minds and realize what we do is nothing special — it's just applying basic fundamentals and sticking to game plans."
