After playing through the first two games of the season short-handed, the No. 6 Jumbos returned at full force for a wild four-game, eight-day spring break stint that took the team nearly 1200 miles on the road amid intermittent snowstorms. Tufts finished the campaign with four wins, three against nationally ranked non-conference opponents and a fourth against a strong NESCAC contender.
"Spring break was incredible, being able to just focus solely on lacrosse," senior defender John Heard said. "Having everybody back playing together gave us a ton of confidence and we had something to prove to the rest of the country. The four wins were great because we got back in the win column and we beat some really good teams."
The Jumbos capped off their road trip with a dominating 20-14 victory at home on Sunday, distancing themselves enough from No. 16 Western New England enough to allow several freshman to see playing time for the first time this season, including first-year keeper Alex Salazar, who replaced junior netminder Patton Watkins towards the end of the first half.
Tufts outscored the Golden Bears 10 to 6 in the second, pulling away on goals from juniors Dan Leventhal, Peter Bowers and Beau Wood. Senior Andrew Fiamengo, sophomores Cole Bailey and freshman John Uppgren also tallied points in the contest, while sophomore Tim LaBeau finished his first goal of the season and sophomore Chris Schoenhut led the pack with four goals.
On Friday, the Jumbos escaped an early scare from NESCAC rival Colby, using a breakout fourth quarter to pull away from the Mules and capture their first conference win.
Just over 12 minutes into the contest, the Jumbos found themselves trailing 6-0. Freshman Max Eberhart scooped six of eight first-quarter faceoffs for the Mules, allowing senior attackman John Jennings and sophomore midfielder Chip Grossman to notch two early goals apiece. Senior midfielder Ian Deveau and classmate Keith Fairbrother also tallied scores to put Colby up big.
With 35 seconds remaining in the period, Fiamengo polished off Tufts' first goal of the contest, setting the tone for the Jumbos' domination over the next two quarters. Tufts scored six times to take the lead before Deveau tied things up going into the final stanza.
The Jumbos finally broke away from the Mules in the final quarter. Bailey buried an early goal to get the Jumbos rolling and five other Jumbos found the back of the net in the final period, allowing Tufts to surge to a late 14-9 victory.
Despite overcoming early deficits against Colby and Western New England, the highlights of the Jumbos' spring break were road showdowns with two of the nation's premier teams, then-No. 2 Stevenson University and then-No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology.
On Tuesday evening, Tufts duked it out with Stevenson at the Mustangs' impressive new stadium. Largely underestimated going into the contest, the Jumbos won out in a nail-biting 7-6 victory, handing the Mustangs their first loss and marking their second victory over the lacrosse powerhouse in three years.
Watkins carried the Jumbos with a performance that included 16 stops and several sensational goal-line saves against a powerful Stevenson offense that launched 40 shots in the contest.
Stevenson immediately set a physical tone, bodying up against Bailey and Fiamengo to force the Jumbos into errant passes, and took an early lead. On an ensuing transition, Stevenson looked to double its advantage as senior midfielder Peter Green launched a shot from the point, but Watkins stepped up to make the save.
In the 12th minute of the contest, Wood polished off a goal to pull things even, but Stevenson retook the lead heading into the second, as Rossi drew LaBeau behind the cage and pumped the ball out of X to hit sophomore Pat Candon with an assist.
As the quarter dragged on, the Jumbos forced the Mustangs into several mistakes but failed to capitalize on the turnovers. Sophomore Michael Crowe eventually beamed a sidearmed shot off the wing past Watkins to knot things at 3-3.
Junior Chris Dashiell helped Glen Tompkins make it 4-3 Stevenson, and the Mustangs narrowly missed several chances to extend the lead. Their best opportunity came when a Pannenton shot rolled across the crease and danced precariously along the goal line, but Delaney and Watkins knocked the ball out of harm's way. Instead, Leventhal netted a stinger at the other end to pull things even going into the intermission.
The third quarter was a test of defensive mettle, and neither team put the ball in net. The Jumbos, who suffered from sloppy mechanics in the opening half, continued to force passes into the middle. Intense pressure forced both squads into unforced turnovers, and the Mustangs also fumbled away a transition opportunity with Pannenton waiting dangerously down low.
Tufts broke more than 30 minutes of scoreless play in the fourth quarter, as Bailey carried the ball down the left wing and turned to hit Wood at the point. Wood pushed the ball across to Fiamengo, and the senior sliced a shot between Pecunes' legs for a 5-4 advantage.
A minute later, Stevenson equalized as Rossi threaded a skip pass across to Pannenton, who buried a low bounce shot to keep the Mustangs in the game. On the rebound, the Jumbos worked the ball up to Bowers at the point, who unleashed a shot on the unprepared Mustangs, stinging the net for the go-ahead score.
After Schoenhut put the Jumbos up 7-5 with his first goal of the contest, Wood nearly put things on ice a minute later, but Pecunes managed to kick out his foot to stop a low bounce shot and give the Mustangs a chance to climb back. They did just that, as Green dished a give-and-go out to Dashiell and continued to drive down the lane, taking the ball back and netting Stevenson's sixth goal to put them within one.
As Tufts attempted to run the clock out, Wood lost his handle on the ball, and the Mustangs had one last chance at equalizing. Wood and Bailey met Green near midfield, however, pinching in hard on the ride and forcing him to botch the clear. LaBeau scooped the loose ball and worked it into the Jumbos' offensive zone as time expired to give the Jumbos the win.
On March 16 the Jumbos, playing at full capacity for the first time this season, unleashed upon Stevens and topped the host Ducks 18-14. Ten different Jumbos scored to help lift Tufts to its first victory in the midst of a blustery snowstorm.
Senior defenseman Matt Callahan opened things up in exciting fashionwhen he took a ball end-to-end in transition and ripped a shot above keeper Matthew Deiner's shoulder. On an ensuing man-up opportunity, Wood took a feed on the top left of the circle and hit high to double the Jumbos' advantage.
After the Jumbos pushed their lead to 6-1, senior midfielder Nicolas Philippi notched his first of six goals for the Ducks, but Schoenhut added a tally, assisted by Uppgren, as the second quarter closed with Tufts comfortably ahead.
After Bailey opened up scoring in the second quarter, Philippi and junior Charlie Cronin mustered a three-goal run to pull within three points of the Jumbos. Needing a goal to stop the Ducks' momentum, the Jumbos pieced together a flawless transition score, as Bowers found Bailey low on the crease, who unselfishly dished the ball to Schoenhut in front of the cage with 13 seconds remaining in the half.
With the Jumbos up 13-6, Cronin buried a goal at the end of the third period, and the Ducks piled on four goals to open the final stanza. With a slim 13-11 lead, the Jumbos' advantage suddenly seemed far more precarious than it had minutes before, but Bowers and junior long-stick midfielder Kane Delaney stepped up for Tufts, burying two quick goals to push the lead back to four.
Philippi refused to let Stevens go down easy, netting two more unassisted scores to close within two, but Leventhal found Wood for another score for the Jumbos, taking a commanding lead.
The Ducks and Jumbos traded goals in the final two minutes, but Uppgren capped the victory off for the Jumbos in a memorable manner, stinging a shot from the point with just a minute to go and sending the Jumbos off to celebrate their first win of the year. While the Jumbos still sit in the bottom half of the conference standings with a 1-2 record, the four-game streak was important for team morale and postseason implications and allowed Tufts to get back on track in the aftermath of the two-game suspension issued to 27 members of the roster.
After eight grueling days, Tufts will spend the week preparing for a matinee showdown against NESCAC rival Trinity next Saturday at Bello Field. The Jumbos are on the hunt for their second conference win, which would put them at .500 for the first time this season in the NESCAC and improve their position come tournament season.
"I think the grind over break of having so many games in a short time gives us confidence [so] that even when we are not 100% physically, we can dig and win games," Heard said. "We are also excited because we made so many mistakes during the break. There is so much room to improve for the team. We see our potential, but we also realize that we have to keep working hard at improving every day at practice."
"It was definitely a challenging week, schedule-wise, but it was great to be with the guys all break and grind out four wins," senior midfielder Brian Ruggiero added. "As far as looking forward, there is plenty of room for improvement, and we're focused on our next game and taking steps forward every day."
