It's entirely possible that the crop of seniors leading the men's lacrosse team is the best in school history.
Yes, even better than last year's group, a squad topped off by All-American Mike O'Brien, and even better than 2005's one-two punch of Bryan Griffin and Devin Clark - a duo that accumulated a combined three NESCAC Player of the Year awards and five All-American honors.
But for all the individual accolades belonging to the classes of '05 and '06, none accomplished what this group of seniors did as a team. Not only did this year's squad earn the school's first-ever regular season NESCAC title, but it also captured its first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.
"We knew from the very beginning that this was a special group of guys," senior midfielder Chris Connelly said. "What has allowed this team to succeed is the willingness to put in the extra work and extra effort to achieve our goals."
The discussion begins, as did Tufts' offensive possessions this year, with tri-captain Mark Warner. Standing at just 5'9" and 155 pounds, his size belies his outstanding field presence and vision. Warner led the Jumbos with 29 assists and 49 points overall this season, both of which were the third-best marks in the NESCAC, and his goals came when it mattered most: to seal victories.
Warner has been honing his ability as a field general since the beginning of his freshman year when he broke into the starting lineup after just three games and finished the season as the third-leading point scorer for the Jumbos. He will graduate with the second-highest career assist total (95) in school history and having started more games for Tufts over the last four years than any other player.
"Mark came here as a highly recruited player, and he's contributed since his freshman year," coach Mike Daly said. "He's been among the top three point scorers on the team all four years here, and he's a fabulous kid with a great work ethic."
Just as Warner was the linchpin of the Jumbos' offense, fellow senior tri-captain Wiley Dornseif was the rock of the back line. Dornseif anchored a defense that was the second-stingiest in the NESCAC - allowing just 66 goals in nine games - and he scooped up 71 ground balls, good for second on the team.
In any sport, defense is difficult to categorize statistically, but the fact is particularly true for lacrosse. The raw data available doesn't capture the impact that Dornseif has had on Tufts' defense since he became a full-time starter his sophomore year.
"His freshman year, we had a JV game against Harvard at the end of the year, and things just started to come together for him," Daly said. "We could tell - this kid's going to be a pretty special player."
Add a hulking 6'2", 200-pound frame to excellent fundamentals and you get a defenseman who was named an Honorable Mention All-American as a junior.
"Everything he's done - hitting the weight room, working on his game - is just a testament to his passion," Daly said.
But Warner and Dornseif are only the brightest stars in what was an outstanding senior class this season.
The team's third tri-captain and an Honorable Mention All-American last year, Brett Holm will graduate but return for a redshirt fifth season after missing all of this year with a knee injury. Connelly, after starting seven games as a junior, has blossomed in his final season, scoring 20 goals and adding 14 assists as the team's third-leading scorer. Alex Bezdek has manned the Jumbos' defense alongside Dornseif for the past two seasons, combining intelligent positioning with savvy checking to hold opposing offenses at bay, while attack Stephen Ginsberg has provided an offensive punch off the bench in his 11 appearances this season.
The veteran midfield trio of Doug Smith, Matt Lanuto and Mike Cortese has been invaluable this year. No Tufts player puts shots on cage at a higher percentage than Smith, who started 13 games this season and chipped in six goals and three assists. Lanuto is a tireless worker who led the Jumbos in ground balls with 83, and he also doubled as a face-off specialist. And Cortese was a sparkplug in reserve, ranging all over the field and scoring two man-down goals this season - vital for swinging the momentum of a match.
"It has been an unbelievable pleasure and honor to play with these nine seniors for the past four years," Connelly said. "I cannot say enough about the seniors on this team. They are the most dedicated and hardworking group of guys I have ever played with."
"This entire class has done an unbelievable job being great examples of leadership, hard work, and doing everything within the scheme of what we're doing," Daly said. "Now they're leaving, but they're leaving the program in a fantastic condition."
