The No. 12 men's lacrosse team nearly let one slip away at Middlebury yesterday. The Jumbos, who led by five goals in the third quarter, allowed the host Panthers to claw back in the third and fourth quarters and close to within one goal in the waning minutes of regulation.
In the end, however, the Jumbos' cooler heads prevailed, and Tufts managed to run out the clock and clinch a 10-9 victory after Middlebury threatened to tie with less than a minute remaining. The Jumbos improved to 4-1 in the NESCAC and 7-2 overall.
Middlebury junior midfielder Brian Foster played sensationally at the X, securing 15 of 22 faceoffs. Penalties also proved costly for the Jumbos, as the Panthers capitalized on three of five extra-man opportunities to stage their second-half comeback.
The Jumbos outshot the Panthers 18-11 in the first half, capitalizing on 14 Middlebury turnovers to jump out to a 5-2 lead at intermission. While Middlebury dominated at the X, Tufts took advantage of strong play from senior midfielder Geordie Shafer and sophomore attackman Beau Wood, who netted two goals apiece in the first half and combined for eight points on the day.
Wood and Shafer opened the second stanza by each scoring a goal to push the Jumbos' lead to 7-2 at the 10:09 mark. But just as the Jumbos appeared to have found their footing, the Panthers cashed in on a penalty to end the 4-0 run.
Freshman Chris Schoenhut then buried a blistering shot stickside high to regain the Jumbos' five-goal lead, but the good feelings were short-lived as the Panthers responded with a three-goal run of their own to pull within two.
With 11 seconds remaining in the third, Wood sent a slicing shot past goalkeeper Nate Gaudio to make it 9-6, but the Panthers were not done yet. In the fourth, sophomore midfielder Bucky Pierce cashed in on a man advantage to make it 9-7 at the 10:34 mark, and in the following minutes, Middlebury had several golden opportunities. Finally, senior attackman Tim Cahill grabbed a rebound off the post and capitalized, pulling the hosts within one.
With Tufts' comfortable lead seemingly vanishing into thin air, freshman attackman Cole Bailey completed a perfectly executed feed from behind to Schoenhut, who cut in with a goal to push the Jumbos' lead back to two. The Panthers rallied yet again, though, as junior midfielder Andrew Metros scored to make it 10-9.
As the Panthers looked to tie, Bailey turned the ball over behind the cage. Middlebury head coach Dave Campbell called two timeouts in the final 30 seconds, but ultimately, his team could not muster the equalizer. The Jumbos forced the ball loose at midfield, and when time expired, Tufts had earned a thrilling, one-goal victory.
