A .500 conference record has never felt so good for the No. 6 men's lacrosse team.
But after a 16?12 victory over the visiting Trinity Bantams, the Jumbos climbed back to 2?2 in the NESCAC following a dangerous 0?2 start to the conference season.
The Jumbos, who have won both NESCAC games during which the team has played at full strength, opened things up with four first quarter scores to put some space between them and the Bantams, and though the next three quarters were largely even?handed, Tufts held on with a two?goal advantage in the second half.
Tufts' attackmen were the key, as the Jumbos' starting trio of sophomores Chris Schoenhut and Cole Bailey and junior Beau Wood all had three?point performances to lift Tufts over Trinity.
The Bantams tried to rally behind a five?goal, six?point performance from senior midfielder Matt Cohen, but the Jumbos eventually locked things down defensively to preserve the victory. First?yearnetminder Alex Salazar stepped up, making six big saves to keep Tufts in the driver's seat down the stretch, and senior midfielder Brian Ruggiero secured 17?of?30faceoffs against Bantams freshman Clay Richard.
Despite accumulating six penalties, the Jumbos used a strong man?down defensive unit to deny Trinity on three of its five extra?man opportunities. While the Jumbos threw the ball away in each of their own man?up scenarios, Tufts had enough power to create other scoring opportunities throughout the contest.
"[On Saturday] I don't think it was necessarily adjustments as much as it was sticking to our fundamentals," Jorgensen said. "That's what we try to do every game and every practice - we'll continue to focus on that against Babson, and moving forward."
Tufts opened things up with three quick goals from Bailey, Wood and Jorgensen to gain a 3?0 advantage just five minutes into the contest, but were answered by Cohen, who scored the next two goals to pull Trinity within one.
As the first quarter drew to a close, the Jumbos worked the ball over to freshman attackman John Uppgren on the right wing. Uppgren threaded a pass to senior midfielder Andrew Fiamengo for a quick turn?and?shoot score to put Tufts back up by two with four seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
Wood struck first in the second period but the Bantams responded with three quick scores to halt Tufts' momentum before Wood tacked on his third goal of the day at the 3:12 mark, but Trinity responded a minute later to stay close. Uppgren countered the Bantams' score with a strike of his own, winding up for a blistering low?to?high shot with eight seconds on the clock to send the Jumbos into halftime.
Coming out of the intermission, Cohen finished a look to put Trinity on the offensive to start the second half. Bailey and classmate Tim LaBeau, however, netted the next two goals for Tufts to extend the slim lead back to three.
After two more Trinity scores, including a man?up strike from junior attackman Chase Growney, Tufts junior attackman Dan Leventhal drove in for a score to stop the bleeding. Schoenhut tacked on two goals, allowing the Jumbos to take their largest lead of the day, and those insurance goals proved key for the Jumbos, as a problematic Cohen buried a goal going into the final period.
But Fiamengo and classmate Ben Saperstein were able to open up more space in the final quarter, and Tufts took a sizeable five?goal lead at the 9:26 mark. Although the defense yielded two more goals, the Jumbos locked things down for more than six minutes of scoreless play at the end of the contest.
While sophomore keeper Cahill finished the contest with 13 saves against the Jumbos, his efforts were not enough to overcome a Tufts squad who fired 45 shots in the contest, including 11 from Wood alone.
The win was important for the Jumbos, who continue to improve their standing in an unpredictable and topsy?turvy conference. Although Tufts still sits sixth in the with a 2?2 record, they continue to climb after a rocky start.
Despite those gains, Tufts has have shifted its focus to this evening's non?conference spat with Babson College, as it has deferred thoughts of next weekend's doubleheader until Wednesday's practice.
"It definitely feels good to be getting in?league wins," Diss said. "Everyone is aware of the playoff implications surrounding in league games-however this is never our focus. We are not even thinking about this upcoming weekend, as we only have one day to prepare for Babson. Our team has always been, and continues to stay, focused on just our next opponent so I don't believe this weekend will serve as a distraction.".
