After earning a huge 16-5 victory over non-conference opponent Babson early in the week, the No. 4 men's lacrosse team was forced to scrap out wins in the final minutes of a NESCAC doubleheader in order to preserve its eight-game win streak and improve to 8-2 on the year, winning two games in front of the Alumni Weekend crowd.
"It's really special to win in front of alumni, and for the alumni, because this program wouldn't be where it is without them," senior captain attackman Andrew Fiamengo said. "They all have worked extremely hard to improve this program in any way when they were here, and they continue to do so to this day."
Tufts improved to a 4-2 NESCAC record after beginning the season at the bottom of the conference, moving up to third place. Just one NESCAC team, Conn College, owns fewer than two conference losses. While the weekend largely put Tufts in a position to control its own destiny, Conn. College holds the head-to-head advantage going into the home stretch, and would host the NESCAC tournament even if the Camels and Jumbos were to finish the regular season with the same record.
The Jumbos snuck out with a 14-13 victory on Sunday, despite allowing the visiting Middlebury Panthers to outscore them five-to-one in the final quarter. Junior midfielder Dan Leventhal had a breakout performance for the Jumbos, lifting Tufts with a monstrous four-goal effort.
"It felt great to have a breakout game, especially against a rival like Middlebury, Leventhal said. "That wouldn't have happened without help of my teammates getting me great looks and our coaches putting me in the right positions to score."
Middlebury came out strong on Sunday, as NESCAC Rookie of the Year candidate Jon Broome, an attackman, opened up scoring for the Panthers, notching his first of three goals at the 10:11 mark. He scored again with 2:57 remaining in the period following two other goals from junior defender Darric White and senior midfielder Mike Giordano to put the Panthers up 4-1.
With the clock standing at five seconds, Tufts senior defender Matt Callahan launched a gilman clear upfield in a last-ditch effort to send the ball end-to-end. Callahan's pass connected with sophomore attackman Chris Schoenhut, who took his defender one-on-one, beating him to finish a look as time expired.
Less than a minute into the second period, junior long-stick midfielder Kane Delaney took the ball off the opening faceoff and drove downfield, pushing it to senior midfielder Ryan Jorgensen. Jorgensen executed the catch-and-release, drilling a shot past junior netminder Nate Gaudio. Minutes later, sophomore attackman Cole Bailey took the ball behind, tripping up his defender and allowing him to rip an equalizer goal as he curled around the cage.
The Panthers and Jumbos traded goals for the remainder of the quarter. With 13 seconds remaining in the half, junior attackman Beau Wood hit midfielder Peter Bowers, who ripped a shot from 20 yards out, hitting high right to tie things back up at 7-7.
The Jumbos came out firing in the second half, and outscored the Panthers 6-1 in the third stanza. After Bailey opened up the scoring, Leventhal took the ball from end to end, driving down the left lane to put a shot past Gaudio.
Minutes later, Middlebury regained possession of the ball and moved it up to Giordano who finished a goal past Salazar before the Jumbos' defense could recover. Leventhal managed to grab the momentum back for the Jumbos, however, mustering two more third-quarter scores, while Wood quietly added a goal of his own.
The Jumbos opened the final stanza with a seemingly secure 13-8 lead. Leventhal capped off his career-high day with another goal to put Tufts up by six and secure the win, even with a late Middlebury charge.
While Leventhal carried the day for the Jumbos, the junior acknowledges that each and every game, any member of the roster is capable of stepping up and contributing a similar effort.
"Tufts is so deep in talent that it seems virtually in every game a different player steps up defensively and offensively," Leventhal said. "The freshman class is extremely deep in talent, too, but many just have not had the opportunity to play because of the upperclassmen ahead of them."
The day before, the Jumbos opened the weekend on a slightly stronger note, as Fiamengo and Schoenhut notched three goals apiece to top Williams 12-7.
Playing against several reserve and first-year players, the Ephs staged a small comeback in the fourth quarter, scoring four of the game's last five goals. The Jumbos' lead, however, which stood at 11-3 entering the final stanza, held up for head coach Mike Daly's squad.
Fiamengo, Bailey and Schoenhut each tallied goals to start, allowing Tufts to break the game open early. After Williams' first-year attackman Jack Lauroesch put the Ephs on the board at the 1:57 mark, Fiamengo buried a goal at the close of the first quarter to push Tufts' lead back to three.
The Jumbos held the Ephs scoreless for the ensuing quarter, as they launched 12 shots at sophomore keeper Dan Whittam. Bowers, Schoenhut, Fiamengo, and senior midfielder Ben Saperstein helped push Tufts' lead to 9-1 going into the intermission.
Delaney polished off two goals in the third quarter to excite the Bello faithful, and Tufts' advantage held at eight goals entering the final stanza. Daly then allowed several younger members to clock in.
Taking advantage of Tufts' fresh unit, Williams pieced things together to lay down four quick goals. The Jumbos, however, had plenty of insurance space and survived the defensive lapse as Wood capped things off with a man-up score in the final minutes.
Despite coming away with two wins, the Jumbos are well aware it will be the team that plays the full 60 minutes - and not the best 59 - that finds success late in the season. Reflecting upon the fourth-quarter runs from Williams and Middlebury this weekend, Tufts knows that no lead is ever too secure.
"In both games we knew each team would make a run," Fiamengo said. "They were both great NESCAC teams and have the ability to do so. We just need to continue to focus on the fundamentals, especially late in games."
The Jumbos, however, demonstrated that they are capable of winning in several ways, which could play to Tufts' advantage as the season progresses.
"Winning games in a variety of ways is always a plus," Fiamengo said. "Coach does a great job preparing us for all of these situations with the way we practice and the drills we do every day. It allows us to be familiar with each situation and allows us to execute regardless of the situation, environment, or score."
The Jumbos have just one day of turnaround before they must travel to Beverly, Mass. to face non-conference rival Endicott. Two years ago, the Gulls shocked the national No. 1 Jumbos, handing them a devastating one-goal upset that Tufts has not forgotten.
