No. 1 Tufts men’s lacrosse remains undefeated, but not without real challenges from No. 3 Christopher Newport University and No. 12 Stevens on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
In their Thursday game against CNU, Tufts’ winning streak appeared to be in jeopardy. The game started off slow for Tufts, with CNU scoring six goals in the first period without Tufts getting a goal in. As the Jumbos searched for a momentum shift in the first period, senior midfielder Charlie Tagliaferri and junior attacker Beau Keough each scored. The Jumbos still had a lot of work to do to catch up through the second, third and fourth periods. But, by the end of the second, the Jumbos were back in the game, with a score of 11–7 in favor of the Captains going into the third quarter.
During the third and fourth quarters, Tufts was able to fight their way back, even gaining a 16–14 lead with five minutes left in the fourth. Christopher Newport scored two more goals in the last five minutes to force overtime.
In overtime, Christopher Newport had a shot that hit the crossbar, but it was ruled no goal. Tufts followed up almost immediately with a goal from senior attacker Max Ettinghausen, bringing the final score to 17–16 for Tufts in their biggest test of the season so far.
Junior midfielder Garrett Kelly led the team in scoring with five goals and an assist, with sophomore attacker Will Emsing posting three goals and two assists and junior Brooks Hauser adding four goals.
Sophomore defender Logan Lee explained how, throughout their games against both CNU and Stevens, Tufts was able to make a strong comeback because of the skill and resiliency of their team.
“Our composure, adaptability, and stamina were our greatest strengths in both games. It would have been really easy to give up after going down early, but our team has the maturity to remain calm and address our areas of weakness,” Lee wrote in an email to the Daily. “We were adaptable and made the necessary changes on all sides of the ball.”
Tufts also didn’t have the strongest start against Stevens, but was able to come back, scoring the first five goals in order to clinch a 9–6 win. After the first period, Tufts ran up nine goals across the second, third and fourth periods to make their comeback.
“We went down by a bunch early in both those games,” senior defender Michael Ayers said. “I think the guys did a really good job of rallying, not panicking, being resilient and spending the rest of the game fighting back and, inch by inch, getting back into both those games and winning them both.”
Tagliaferri and Ettinghausen led the scoring with two goals and one assist each.
On Tuesday, Tufts showed that they were past some of the late starts they’d had against Stevens and CNU. Tufts started off their game against Union on Tuesday without an issue, eventually winning 20–10 against Union.
“We didn’t really start very well,” Ayers said. “We weren’t playing our best ball out there. We were able to fix a few small things, tighten up a few standards or small things within the program that we had been letting slip. And I think that really helped us start much better.”
Ayers emphasized that Tufts will continue to be a top team in large part because of their willingness to bring energy onto the field for every game.
“I think we’re doing a great job of just bringing that effort and energy to all the games. That’s the most crucial part of it. I think it’s where we will continue to have success, is being the team that brings more effort, brings more energy [and] is tougher out there,” Ayers said.
Lee explained that Tufts will continue to sharpen their skills as the season progresses.
“Our emphasis when preparing for games is on how we can be the best version of ourselves. By focusing on our process and how much better we can get, it eliminates the momentum of winning (or losing) games,” Lee wrote. “For example, while we are happy to have won the games this past week, I’m confident that no one on our team is satisfied with our performances. That understanding that we are not yet playing our best lacrosse is what will motivate us to continue improving throughout the season.”
Tufts men’s lacrosse has a high bar to live up to this season, with an NCAA championship last season and their current consistent No. 1 ranking. But right now, the Jumbos are focused on taking their season one step at a time to make sure they’re the best they can be.
“[Right now], it’s just focusing on one practice at a time, one game at a time, one lift at a time, to continue to find small, marginal ways to get better each day, and then those will stack up,” Ayers said.
Tufts hopes to continue their winning streak at Colby College on Saturday.
