For the sixth time this year, the No. 9 men's lacrosse team netted 20 or more goals in a game. On Saturday at Bello Field against Amherst, the Jumbos eclipsed their previous season-high of 24 - which came in the first game of the season at Middlebury - and converted 25 goals to set the record for most goals scored by a Tufts team against a NESCAC opponent.
The Jumbos moved to 10-2 overall and 6-1 in the NESCAC, placing them second behind the Wesleyan Cardinals.
Men's lacrosse was enjoyed by a larger crowd than usual, as it was one of three teams taking part in the final Fan the Fire event of the year. Along with the baseball and softball teams, the Jumbos were playing to raise awareness for Respect The Game, a NESCAC-wide initiative that promotes sportsmanship both in and outside of games, and the Tufts Marathon Team.
Team points leader sophomore attackman John Uppgren led the group of 13 Tufts players who scored against Amherst with five goals and two assists. Senior tri-captain midfielder Beau Wood and junior attackman Cole Bailey each scored four goals in the victory.
The Jumbos jumped on the Lord Jeffs early to set the tone, scoring the first six goals of the game before Amherst could respond with back-to-back goals at the 3:15 and 1:57 marks of the first quarter. Tufts would regain its six-goal lead with strikes from junior attackman Chris Schoenhut and junior defender CJ Higgins in the final two minutes of the first period.
Though the scoreboard showed a lopsided game and a large offensive output from Tufts, the key to success was making stops on defense and efficiency in transition.
"It was more about our face-off unit and overall defensive play than it was anything we did offensively," head coach Mike Daly said. "In particular, our goalie play was fantastic. Getting stops on defense gets our offense the ball and then winning face-offs creates opportunities for us as well. It really is a team game. Without the face-off unit and those defensive stops, it really was a much closer game than it looked. Amherst is a very good team that we have a lot of respect for."
The closest Amherst would come over the remainder of the game was a six-goal deficit on three occasions throughout the second quarter. The Lord Jeffs matched the Jumbos 3-3, trading off goals in the second stanza, but the established lead from the Jumbos provided for an 11-5 lead going into halftime.
Tufts put the game out of reach coming out of the intermission, scoring four of the first five goals in the second half. Wood had three in the period, while Amherst senior tri-captain midfielder Aaron Mathias scored two of his team-high four goals in third.
The Jumbos ended the game definitively, outscoring the Lord Jeffs 8-3 in the final quarter. Uppgren netted his final three of the game, while senior midfielders Dan Leventhal and Matt Montgomery, along with sophomore midfielder Kyle Howard-Johnson, all netted their first goals of the contest.
Tufts also saw contributions from younger players on the second and third lines, such as assists from freshman attackman Austin Carbone, sophomore attackmen Connor Bilby and Ben Andreycak, and sophomore midfielder Chris Sawyer. Sophomore midfielder Conor Helfrich won 26 of 32 face-offs for the Jumbos and also added a goal of his own. Senior goalie Patton Watkins took the win between the pipes, making 16 saves before coming out of the game halfway through the fourth quarter.
"The best thing about our program is the culture of competition we have," Daly said. "We have great guys in all classes and they all work so hard. It keeps everyone honest and makes the coaches' decisions very difficult in terms of playing time for everyone. We are equally lucky and blessed with 'team-first' type guys who always put the team goals ahead of personal goals."
Tufts' next matchup will be away at Bates on Tuesday. The Bobcats are ninth in the conference at 1-6. After that game, Tufts will take on national No. 19 Wesleyan at home on Saturday in a battle for first place in the conference.
