While the rest of the student body enjoyed the reprieve of spring break, Tufts played Stevenson University, Colby and Trinity, the latter two being significant as conference match-ups. On Tuesday night, they competed in a fourth game against Western New England University (WNE). The games resulted in three wins for Tufts, against Colby, Trinity and WNE, but an unexpected 11-10 loss to No. 20 Stevenson put Tufts at 6-1 overall but still 3-0 in NESCAC play.
Playing in Springfield on Tuesday night in their first game after spring break, the Jumbos took on the WNE Golden Bears and, despite not being able to put distance between themselves and the hosts, managed to come out with the win. While senior midfielder and face-off expert Connor Helfrich — one of the nation's top face-off experts across all divisions — has been able to dominate the face-off position for most of this season, he struggled in the circle against WNE senior David Cedrone, who has a career face-off win percentage of .598. Despite Helfrich being drafted by the Denver Outlaws in the Major League Lacrosse Draft back in January, in large part due to his faceoff prowess, he won only seven of 24 face-offs in the game. Junior Tucker Mathers also tried his hand at the face-off position for the Jumbos, winning three of six encounters.
WNE's advantage in the face-off circle complemented their ability to score effectively on the fast break, with their first goal coming only seven seconds into the game. However, the Jumbos played to their ability to run a structured but fast-paced defense. The first quarter ended even at 4-4 with the Jumbos getting scores from senior midfielders Jake Gillespie (whose two goals were both assisted by senior co-captain attacker Ben Andreycak), Garret Clarke and Kyle Howard-Johnson.
The second quarter saw the Jumbos extend the score to a lead at 7-5. A decisive difference in the style of play was Tufts’ ability to turn over the ball before the Bears could cross the halfway line. Maintaining possession not only prevented the Bears from having attacking opportunities but also allowed the Jumbos to increase their lead to four goals during the third quarter, jumping out to a 9-5 margin. But WNE quickly put on the pressure, going on a five-goal run through most of the third quarter to take the lead for the first time since the first minute of the game.
The Jumbos trailed only briefly though as senior co-captain attacker John Uppgren, junior midfielder Zach Richman, junior defenseman Tyler Olney and Clarke found the net five consecutive times in total in the late third and early fourth to return the Jumbos to a comfortable 14-10 lead. Although WNE was able to score a further two goals in the final quarter, Tufts held on to take a 15-12 win.
Tufts also won a crucial NESCAC game on Saturday at Trinity, a much-needed ego boost after suffering its first loss of the season a few days earlier. The Jumbos came out fired up against the Trinity Bantams, as Uppgren scored an unassisted goal just over one minute in and provided the assists for the next three goals for Gillespie (who netted two) and Richman. The second quarter was higher scoring for both teams, with the Jumbos scoring eight to the Bantams’ five. Unassisted goals from Andreycak and Uppgren (with two) had the Jumbos up 7-4. The two then provided an assist to each other to put the Jumbos up 9-5 mid-way through the quarter. This scoring run saw Uppgren score another diving shot across the front of the goal — one of the impressive scoring styles he's come to be known for in his career — as well as repeated exploitation of weak Trinity crease defense to give Tufts a definitive lead. Back-to-back goals from Howard-Johnson, both from over 10 yards out, and a final goal from Gillespie, had the Jumbos up 12-7 at the half.
The third quarter saw the Bantams threatening to close the gap, scoring three in a row off of consecutive face-off wins. But consecutive goals from Andreycak, Richman, Gillespie and Clarke opened the gap back up to six. The fourth quarter was tense for both sides, with the Jumbos only scoring one to the Bantams’ five. Trinity had possession with 35 seconds left and threatened to tie up the game. However, strong defense and high pressure helped the Jumbos held onto their lead, and they maintained their perfect record in the conference.
Uppgren, who before the season was named Lacrosse Magazine's Preseason Player of the Year and put on the watch list for the Tewaarton Award — given to the best lacrosse player in the nation — tied for the second-most points and second-most assists in a game in Tufts program history, after racking up four goals and eight assists against Trinity for 12 points.
Tufts attacker John Uppgren (LA '16) turns sharply around an opposing player in the game against Colby on Saturday, March 19. (Evan Sayles / The Tufts Daily)However, in the team's biggest disappointment of the season so far, Tufts dropped its first game of 2016 to out-of-conference foe and frequent rival Stevenson on Tuesday, March 22. Though Stevenson came into the match-up ranked No. 20 nationally while Tufts was the top-ranked team in the nation, the game proved challenging from the beginning, with Tufts failing to put decisive distance between themselves and Stevenson.
The Jumbos went into halftime leading 7-6, but the third quarter proved to the game-changer. The Mustangs outscored the Jumbos 5-2 and went into the fourth with an 11-9 lead. Although senior attacker Connor Bilby brought the Jumbos within one on a man-up situation with over seven minutes remaining, the final minutes of the game remained goalless as the Mustangs held on for the victory. Stevenson’s strength showed in the numbers, as they dominated in ground balls and shots, and allowed fewer turnovers.
“We came out to a good start but they definitely played a very good game and made some adjustments that were effective in terms of how we played,” Bilby said. “I think it came down to us getting our fundamentals which we fell short of in some key situations. Going forward it's a learning opportunity for us to know where we need to get better and we’ll hopefully be able to turn a corner and get better for that game.”
To start off their spring break, the Jumbos hosted the Colby College Mules on Saturday, March 19 in their first home game of the season. At the first whistle, Helfrich immediately gained possession of the ball, allowing his teammate Clarke to find the net after less than a minute. Despite Colby’s defense consistently putting pressure on the ball-handler in the attack, Tufts managed to open up a two-goal lead by the end of the first quarter through efforts from Howard-Johnson, Gillespie and Bilby, with junior attacker Austin Carbone assisting three of the five first-quarter goals.
The Jumbos maintained their two-goal lead going into halftime, but it was the third quarter that saw the attack unleash an onslaught on the Mules defense. Tufts scored seven goals to Colby’s one, with Uppgren netting three, one of which saw him dive around the crease in order to beat Colby goalie Dylan Rothenberg. Sloppy defense left Gillespie wide open for a feed from Andreycak, who joined Bilby and Howard-Johnson on the score sheet to put the Jumbos ahead by eight at 14-6 going into the final 15 minutes. Both teams scored two apiece in the final quarter, with both Tufts goals coming from Andreycak for a final score of 16-8.
“The defense has been doing a good job of playing as a team, we’ve been communicating pretty well,” Arend Broekmate, a first-year, said. “We’ve been doing a good job of putting pressure on people. That’s when we’re playing our best defense — when we’re making people react to what we’re doing.”
The Jumbos look to maintain that tight defensive play and stay undefeated in NESCAC play again this weekend when they host the Conn. College Camels on Saturday at Bello Field, with the whistle blowing at 1 p.m.
