It's been a rough week for the men's lacrosse team.
The Jumbos suffered their second straight NESCAC loss of the week on Saturday, falling 17-9 to Colby on the Mules' Bill Alfond Field. While last Wednesday's 12-4 loss to No. 12 Middlebury was disappointing for the upset-minded Jumbos, Saturday's loss came against unranked Colby, who was tied for eighth place in the NESCAC with a 1-4 league mark going into the game.
Tufts had not dropped a game against Colby since the Mules' 16-3 rout of the Jumbos in the 1998 season. The shocking defeat knocked the Jumbos down to 7-4 (3-3 NESCAC) and out of the top 25 nationally from the No. 17 spot.
"We didn't underestimate Colby," coach Mike Daly said. "They are a league opponent, and we have great respect for anyone in this league."
The game remained even throughout the first period. The Mules and the Jumbos each had 10 shots apiece and split control of the eight face-offs during the period. The Jumbos started strong, when junior midfielder Matt Lanuto opened the scoring at the 14:21 mark, assisted by junior midfielder Brett Holm. Colby junior midfielder Dan Schupack tied up the game two minutes later.
Tufts responded with a pair of goals from freshman midfielder Chase Bibby and senior co-captain Rory Doucette with 10:27 and 4:45 minutes remaining respectively, giving Tufts a 3-1 lead. Freshman midfielder Todd Boertzel, with his first of three goals, narrowed the Tufts lead to one, but senior midfielder Michael Hughes, assisted by senior co-captain attacker Billy Granger, gave Tufts two-goal advantage once again at the 1:27 mark.
However, with only 35 seconds remaining, Colby freshman attacker Caddy Brooks began his assault on the Tufts goal, logging his first of four scores on the afternoon, cutting the Jumbos' lead to 4-3 entering the second period.
Freshman goalkeeper Matt Harrigan felt that the Colby team entered the game more prepared to play than the Jumbo squad.
"I don't believe that they are one of the stronger offenses [that the team has come up against], but they definitely played as more of a team," said Harrigan, who logged 12 saves in the match.
Holm began the scoring in the second, slipping an unassisted goal past senior goalkeeper and tri-captain Jeff Miller 2:20 into the quarter. The Mules quickly countered the Jumbos' final two-goal lead of the afternoon when junior attacker Ryan Scott scored only six seconds after Holm, kicking off an unanswered six-goal run. Colby took control of the game, outscoring Tufts 4-1 in the second period for a 7-5 lead going into the half, and out-shooting the Jumbos 16-6.
With the defense overwhelmed by the Colby attack and the Tufts offense unable to compensate, Daly emphasized that the responsibility for the loss rests on the entire Jumbo squad.
"It doesn't much matter what the offense did," Daly said. "If the defense lets in 17 goals, the offense has to score 18, and they didn't. We lost as a team."
Colby dominated the face-offs in the second period, winning four of the six.
"They had more momentum and they outplayed us," Daly said. "Colby scored goals and won face-offs, and we couldn't get the ball. The face-off is such a big part of the game, and it was tough for us to generate any kind of momentum when they had the ball."
Following the halftime break, Colby exploded for 10 goals in the second half, outscoring the Jumbos 5-2 in both the third and fourth periods. The Mules continued their goal scoring streak from the second period, with Boerztel and Brooks each finding the back of the net before Tufts' sophomore attacker Connor Ginsberg finally breached the Colby goal, bringing the score to 9-6 at the 9:03 minute mark in the third.
The Mules embarked on another unchecked three-goal run following the Ginsberg score until Tufts junior Chris Connelly halted the assault on the Tufts goal with 3:02 minutes remaining, for a 12-7 Mules' lead after three.
"A lot of the problem [in defense] was communication," Harrigan said. "We weren't getting our slides down, and that hurt us the most. It came down to transition plays. That's where Colby got most of their goals."
The groundball war became a deciding factor in the second half. The Jumbos had a better groundball percentage than the Mules in the first half, collecting 14 groundballs to Colby's 10. However, Colby turned the tables in the second half, nabbing 11 groundballs in the third period, and 12 in the fourth period. Tufts only collected six in the third and five in the fourth.
Tufts tried to claw its way back into the game in the fourth period, taking 11 shots to Colby's nine. Following a score by Colby sophomore attacker Zach Goodnough two minutes into the fourth period, seniors Mike O'Brien and Mark Warner attempted to generate an offensive comeback for the Jumbos, as O'Brien scored two straight goals off assists from Warner to narrow the score to 13-9. The comeback, however, was short-lived. Colby parried the rest of the Tufts offensive moves and strung together four straight goals, the final blow coming from junior attacker Tim Brown with 3:22 minutes remaining.
Poor shooting afflicted the Jumbos, and the Colby goalkeepers continued to frustrate the Jumbo efforts, as Miller logged seven saves in the game. When Miller was replaced by freshman Alex Farmer with 1:23 minutes remaining, Farmer made two saves in the final minute of the period.
The team is back in action today with a non-conference match at Western New England.
"Right now Western New England is the only team that can hurt us," Daly said. "We can't let Colby affect that, and if we do, it's our fault. Right now we are focused on moving on and executing our game plan, physically as well as mentally."
