Over the NESCAC Championship weekend, the skies were threatening and so were Bowdoin and Middlebury. But with the fate of the men's lacrosse season on the line, lightning struck Bello Field — twice.
Two times in two days the Jumbos found themselves tied with their opponent late in the fourth quarter. And twice the Jumbos found a way to win: Graduating senior quad-captain attackman Ryan Molloy ended Bowdoin's upset hopes with just 0.4 remaining in the game in the semifinals on May 7, and rising senior attackman Sean Kirwan scored in overtime in the championship game to seal a 13-12 win against Middlebury the following afternoon.
As of press time, the men's lacrosse team has a spot in the NCAA Quarterfinals — a home battle against last year's NCAA Semifinal opponent Cortland State — after beating Union College 6-5 at home on May 14. Statistics from that game were unavailable.
The Jumbos — the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and defending national champions — notched an impressive 12-2 regular season and closed out the conference tournament in style, but still have a long road ahead if they want to repeat as national champions.
Tufts, which enjoyed a first-round bye in the NCAAs, held off Union in the second round, though they never led the Dutchmen by more than two goals in the second-round matchup.
"In the Union game, we were all fired up to play, but I think we might have underestimated them a little bit," graduating senior quad-captain longstick midfielder Alec Bialosky said. "We got lulled to sleep on defense a few times and we weren't quite playing at full speed a hundred percent of the time, which could come back to bite us. Going forward, we need to have that laser-lock focus and look at the little things."
In the regular season, the Jumbos topped the NESCAC, posting an impressive 8-1 conference record. After dropping their final game to Bowdoin 15-9, the Jumbos rebounded quickly in the NESCAC tournament.
In the Championship game, the Jumbos played some of their toughest lacrosse yet. In a thrilling overtime finish, Tufts outlasted Middlebury 13-12, securing its second victory over the Panthers in 2011 — the fifth consecutive overall — and, more importantly, repeating as NESCAC champions.
Tufts led Middlebury by four until the visiting Panthers staged a five-goal run to give them their first lead of the game with less than three minutes remaining. After rising senior midfielder Kevin McCormick tied the game again, Middlebury graduating senior attackman David Hild delivered a silencing goal with a minute remaining to put a Tufts repeat in serious doubt.
In the final minute, however, Tufts regained possession out of the face-off, and after rising junior defensive midfielder Sam Diss brought the ball into the restraining box, coach Mike Daly called a crucial timeout.
After the huddle, the Jumbos fired two shots off the mark, but graduating senior quad-captain midfielder Matt Witko maintained his composure, firing a top left-corner rocket past Middlebury graduating senior goalkeeper Ryan Deane to tie the game with nine seconds remaining and force overtime.
"When we called the timeout before Witko scored we were all on the sideline mentally getting ready for that next face-off," Bialosky said. "We knew that our offense was going to get the job done and then Witko got that great shot and put it in."
In overtime, the two teams traded possessions until Bialosky forced a turnover on the Panthers and recovered a ground ball, allowing Molloy to complete a pass to Kirwan for the golden goal.
"On that groundball I got, [rising junior defender] John Heard was doing a great job on-ball, forced a pass and we slid to the guy he threw it to so he had to make another pass and the kid just dropped it. It was pretty simple," Bialosky said. "Then we just attacked, which is our philosophy. We never slow it down, and we just got off that quick pass to Ryan, to Sean, to the goal."
Where many teams would have taken a timeout, the always attack-happy Jumbos were right in their comfort zone.
"We're not nervous; we're kind of excited and anxious and looking for that kind of opportunity," Molloy added. "Thank God Alec came up with that groundball and pushed transition, and because of the way we play we're able to not take a timeout and score that goal and end the game."
In the conference semifinals, Tufts delivered an equally exciting last-minute victory over Bowdoin. In the fourth quarter, the Jumbos led the Polar Bears 10-5 when Bowdoin launched a five-goal, six-minute scoring campaign to tie with 4:09 left.
After several threatening Bowdoin possessions, rising sophomore goalkeeper Patton Watkins controlled a Bowdoin clear from graduating senior goalkeeper Jake McCampbell, and aired a last-ditch clear out of his own crease with just 12 seconds remaining. Graduating senior quad-captain attackman D.J. Hessler controlled the outlet and flicked it to Molloy.
Molloy then faked out McCampbell, launching a low bounce-shot past the goalkeeper's left side and into the back of the net with 0.4 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
"Honestly, at that point, I was just hoping that they didn't score," Molloy said. "When Patton caught the ball I thought he was probably going to hold it but then he sent it down the field, and really nothing was in my mind other than that instinct that took over. D.J. threw it to me and I didn't even realize how much time was on the clock. I just made sure the ball went in the net."
Although the Jumbos certainly finished the NESCAC tournament with two of their more stunning victories, Daly's squad proved itself time and time again in high-pressure situations throughout the season. In fact, seven of the Jumbos' games have been decided by one goal, including a 6-5 regular season victory over Conn. College, which Tufts beat handily 12-6 in the NESCAC Quarterfinals.
"Something that my high school coaches used to say is, ‘If you win by a lot it shows your talent, but if you win by a little, it shows your character.' No one on our team ever quits when we're down," Bialosky said. "As long as there's still time on the clock, we're still fighting to get the ‘W,' so all those one-goal games, they add up. They'll help us in the long run."
