After a devastating one-goal loss to Wesleyan last Saturday, the No. 9 men's lacrosse team was sorely in need of a rebound. Wednesday night's matchup at Bowdoin presented a huge opportunity for that bounce back, along with a must-win for the Jumbos if they hoped for any chance at a home NESCAC quarterfinal this weekend.
The Jumbos turned the must-win into a romp, taking a 21-8 victory to secure the NESCAC's third seed. Tufts played within itself on Wednesday, controlling the host Polar Bears from start to finish on its way to a 21-8 rout. The victory positioned the Jumbos, who faced a possible No. 5 seeding pending Wednesday's contest, to be the No. 3 seed in this weekend's conference tournament.
"It felt good," junior keeper Patton Watkins, who led the Jumbos with a lights-out, 17-save night, said. "All season, we have been focusing on leaving nothing to chance, and last night we accomplished that mission. Top-to-bottom and for 60 minutes, nothing was left to chance."
Junior midfielder Beau Wood lit the offensive fire with six goals, while sophomore attackman Cole Bailey got things started from behind, feeding for a goal and four assists.
Tufts came out of the gates quickly when junior long-stick defenseman Kane Delaney helped senior midfielder Brian Ruggiero secure the opening faceoff and pushed the ball back up to Ruggiero. With a man open on the backside, Ruggiero drew off the unsuspecting defense and buried a shot behind fifth-year senior keeper Chris Williamson to start the Jumbos off on the right foot.
"Coming out strong is always a big tenet of ours, and winning the first faceoff is a great way to get that momentum started," Delaney said. "We view every faceoff and groundball as a battle that needs our complete intensity and focus, so getting the first goal on our first possession from the faceoff unit set the tone early."
After the teams traded goals and the Jumbos took a 2-1 lead, Tufts added to its total when Bailey buried a low-angle look on a turn-and-shoot and picked up another goal from Bowers, who released his shot just before being drilled by a pack of Bowdoin defenders. Wood then found the back of the net for his first goal of the game, pushing the lead to 5-1 at the close of the first quarter.
Tufts opened the second stanza without missing a step, as sophomore midfielder Peter Gill ripped a goal from the top right wing just a minute into the period. Two minutes later, the Jumbos stitched together a smooth transition score when sophomore defender Garrett Read, carrying the ball near midfield, hit short-stick defensive midfielder C.J. Higgins with the ball. Higgins quickly found Bailey, who sent a quick-stick feed to classmate and attackman Chris Schoenhut for the finish.
Nevertheless, the Polar Bears put the Jumbos out of commission for the remainder of the half. A fast break goal from junior Franklin Reis and a bull-dodge from junior midfielder Dan Hanley down the left alley gave Bowdoin a pair of scores to pull within 10-3 entering the intermission.
Throughout the opening half, Tufts was solid on both ends, and high energy provided the spark for the Jumbos to take such a commanding lead.
"Energy and confidence are contagious - when the defense sees the offense succeeding, it fires us up, and when the offense sees the defense succeeding, it fires them up," Watkins said. "On [Wednesday] night the whole team was able to feed off each other's energy."
Opening the second half with a sizeable lead, Tufts avoided one of its biggest Achilles heels: complacency. The Jumbos capitalized on several Bowdoin penalties to tack on three man-up goals in the third period, including two off the left hand of freshman attackman John Uppgren. Wood also notched two more goals, while Bowers and Schoenhut each found the back of the net one time.
The Tufts scores sandwiched just two Bowdoin goals, and the Jumbos entered the final period with a 16-5 advantage. Sophomore attackman David Nemirov took a feed from senior Billy Bergner on a run-through to finish past Watkins for the first score of the final period, but Tufts notched the next three goals.
After the teams went back and forth, with the Jumbos scoring four to the Polar Bears' three, Uppgren capped off the freshman goal-scoring fest with his third of the day, grabbing his own rebound to send a quick-stick shot past first-year goalkeeper Mathew Netto with less than two minutes remaining.
"Getting the younger guys out there is always a goal for our team," Delaney said. "All 50 players sacrifice a lot of time and effort for this team and program, and being able to see the manifestation of that work out on the field against a strong league opponent in Bowdoin gets the entire team pumped up. [That hard work] exemplifies what Tufts lacrosse is all about."
The Jumbos ran out the last few seconds, while a defeated Bowdoin squad finally resigned itself in front of a home senior-night crowd. For the Jumbos, the win was a testament to what they are capable of when focused and their extraordinary depth.
"We have always known what this team is capable of," Delaney said. "When we put in the proper mental and physical preparation, we know that we have a great opportunity to win. [Wednesday] night was a great way to end the regular season and get us focused on the NESCAC tournament. The focus, intensity and swagger needed during each game from here on out was affirmed - we will build upon that and strive to do the same on Saturday."
That said, Tufts enters this Saturday's NESCAC quarterfinals seeded at its lowest position since the current seniors joined the roster. Despite that, head coach Mike Daly's squad is solely focused on what it can control - its first round rematch against Bates.
The Jumbos played Bates two short weeks ago, defeating the Bobcats 14-7 at home in a senior-night matchup. Tufts, however, is aware that going into playoff season, every team has a clean slate, and none can be taken for granted.
"It's really nothing new for this weekend," Watkins said. "We're only focused on Tufts. The fact that we already beat Bates is out of our minds at this point."
"Right now, we are completely focused on today and what we are doing right now that will help us be successful on Saturday," Delaney added. "We know what type of mentality we need to have on Saturday, and we know what type of effort will be needed to beat a Bates team that we really respect."
