Men's lacrosse nears another NESCAC title

The men's lacrosse team is moving on to the NESCAC semifinals this Saturday after beating Conn. College 16-10 in the quarterfinal round this weekend.

On Wednesday, the Jumbos doubled up on the Bowdoin Polar Bears 20-10 in their final regular season game, opening up an eight-goal lead in the second and third quarters.The Jumbos took an early lead with senior co-captain Ben Andreycak finding the net on counterpart John Uppgren's assist. Five minutes later, the roles reversed as Uppgren scored off Andreycak’s assist. Uppgren netted six and assisted four in the game. Senior Kyle Howard-Johnson also made his mark with signature power-shots from distance, scoring on three. The win brought Tufts' conference record to 9-1 and held its spot atop the NESCAC heading into this weekend's quarterfinals.

The team hosted Conn. College in that quarterfinal game on Saturday after already having beaten them 24-12 earlier in the regular season. The game started evenly, with neither team able to take the lead. Senior Jake Gillespie was the star of the first half, scoring four of the Jumbos’ seven goals, with two more coming from Andreycak and another from Uppgren. Strong midfield defense from the Jumbos marked the game. Seniors Chris Sawyer and AJ Enchill caused important turnovers to bring the ball back into the attack. Although Conn College had more saves than Tufts, Tufts’ shots were far more accurate. Senior goaltender Alex Salazar did not have to make too many saves on Conn. College's wild and inaccurate shots. It wasn’t until the second half that the Jumbos were able to open up a substantial lead. The Camels scored once in the third quarter and three times in the fourth, while in contrast, the Jumbos scored four and five, respectively, to seal the win. The quarterfinal victory takes the Jumbos to the semifinals next Saturday where they will face Williams.

The Jumbos currently dominate the NESCAC individual statistics. Uppgren is the conference’s top scorer for the second straight year with 51 goals, while Gillespie, who did not start a single game last season and only scored 21 goals, follows him closely with 50 this year. Uppgren leads the NESCAC in points scored, also coming second in assists with 42. Andreycak and Gillespie tie for third with 65 points each, while Andreycak ranks fourth in assists. Finally, Salazar has the most saves in the NESCAC with 209.

The Jumbos are looking for their seventh consecutive NESCAC championship and their third consecutive Div. III national title.