After a devastating one-goal loss to Wesleyan last Saturday, the No. 9 men’s lacrosse team was sorely in need of a rebound. Wednesday night’s matchup at Bowdoin presented a huge opportunity for that bounce back, along with a must-win for the Jumbos if they hoped for any chance at a home NESCAC quarterfinal this weekend.
The Jumbos turned the must-win into a romp, taking a 21-8 victory to secure the NESCAC’s third seed. Tufts played within itself on Wednesday, controlling the host Polar Bears from start to finish on its way to a 21-8 rout. The victory positioned the Jumbos, who faced a possible No. 5 seeding pending Wednesday’s contest, to be the No. 3 seed in this weekend’s conference tournament.
“It felt good,” junior keeper Patton Watkins, who led the Jumbos with a lights-out, 17-save night, said. “All season, we have been focusing on leaving nothing to chance, and last night we accomplished that mission. Top-to-bottom and for 60 minutes, nothing was left to chance.”
Junior midfielder Beau Wood lit the offensive fire with six goals, while sophomore attackman Cole Bailey got things started from behind, feeding for a goal and four assists.
Tufts came out of the gates quickly when junior long-stick defenseman Kane Delaney helped senior midfielder Brian Ruggiero secure the opening faceoff and pushed the ball back up to Ruggiero. With a man open on the backside, Ruggiero drew off the unsuspecting defense and buried a shot behind fifth-year senior keeper Chris Williamson to start the Jumbos off on the right foot.
“Coming out strong is always a big tenet of ours, and winning the first faceoff is a great way to get that momentum started,” Delaney said. “We view every faceoff and groundball as a battle that needs our complete intensity and focus, so getting the first goal on our first possession from the faceoff unit set the tone early.”
After the teams traded goals and the Jumbos took a 2-1 lead, Tufts added to its total when Bailey buried a low-angle look on a turn-and-shoot and picked up another goal from Bowers, who released his shot just before being drilled by a pack of Bowdoin defenders. Wood then found the back of the net for his first goal of the game, pushing the lead to 5-1 at the close of the first quarter.
Tufts opened the second stanza without missing a step, as sophomore midfielder Peter Gill ripped a goal from the top right wing just a minute into the period. Two minutes later, the Jumbos stitched together a smooth transition score when sophomore defender Garrett Read, carrying the ball near midfield, hit short-stick defensive midfielder C.J. Higgins with the ball. Higgins quickly found Bailey, who sent a quick-stick feed to classmate and attackman Chris Schoenhut for the finish.
Nevertheless, the Polar Bears put the Jumbos out of commission for the remainder of the half. A fast break goal from junior Franklin Reis and a bull-dodge from junior midfielder Dan Hanley down the left alley gave Bowdoin a pair of scores to pull within 10-3 entering the intermission.
Throughout the opening half, Tufts was solid on both ends, and high energy provided the spark for the Jumbos to take such a commanding lead.
“Energy and confidence are contagious — when the defense sees the offense succeeding, it fires us up, and when the offense sees the defense succeeding, it fires them up,” Watkins said. “On [Wednesday] night the whole team was able to feed off each other’s energy.”
Opening the second half with a sizeable lead, Tufts avoided one of its biggest Achilles heels: complacency. The Jumbos capitalized on several Bowdoin penalties to tack on three man-up goals in the third period, including two off the left hand of freshman attackman John Uppgren. Wood also notched two more goals, while Bowers and Schoenhut each found the back of the net one time.
The Tufts scores sandwiched just two Bowdoin goals, and the Jumbos entered the final period with a 16-5 advantage. Sophomore attackman David Nemirov took a feed from senior Billy Bergner on a run-through to finish past Watkins for the first score of the final period, but Tufts notched the next three goals.
After the teams went back and forth, with the Jumbos scoring four to the Polar Bears’ three, Uppgren capped off the freshman goal-scoring fest with his third of the day, grabbing his own rebound to send a quick-stick shot past first-year goalkeeper Mathew Netto with less than two minutes remaining.
“Getting the younger guys out there is always a goal for our team,” Delaney said. “All 50 players sacrifice a lot of time and effort for this team and program, and being able to see the manifestation of that work out on the field against a strong league opponent in Bowdoin gets the entire team pumped up. [That hard work] exemplifies what Tufts lacrosse is all about.”
The Jumbos ran out the last few seconds, while a defeated Bowdoin squad finally resigned itself in front of a home senior-night crowd. For the Jumbos, the win was a testament to what they are capable of when focused and their extraordinary depth.
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