LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates men's lacrosse team scored its most goals in a NESCAC game this season, but No. 8 nationally ranked Tufts' high-octane offense, the highest-scoring unit in Division III, proved too much for the host Bobcats in a 22-14 loss at Garcelon Field Tuesday night.
Bates (4-7, 2-6 NESCAC) remained within three goals of the Jumbos with as little as 10:25 left in the fourth quarter, but the Jumbos' offense found another gear with nine goals in the breakneck final period, outscoring Bates 7-2 over the last 11 minutes.
Tufts (11-2, 7-1) won its fourth straight behind six goals and one assist by Chris Schoenhut and five goals and three assists by John Uppgren. Ben Andreycak (three goals, three assists) and Beau Wood (four goals) also had big nights, while Conor Helfrich did yeoman's work on the faceoff X for Tufts, winning 24 of 40 and scooping 21 ground balls.
Sophomore
Jack Allard (Ridgewood, N.J.) was spectacular with a career-high six goals for Bates, which suffered its third consecutive loss.
Juniors Jack Strain (Montclair, N.J.) and Mac Jackson (Hood River, Ore.) scored two goals apiece and sophomore Charlie Hildebrand (Berwyn, Pa.) added a score and two assists. Jackson also won 14 of 30 faceoffs and was credited with 11 ground balls.
Tufts goalie Pat Watkins and Bates senior keeper Charlie Kazarian (Providence, R.I.) both had 13 saves.
Bates' first clear of the game turned into its first goal, as a streaking Hildebrand passed diagonally across Tufts' defensive zone to Allard, who hesitated before cramming the ball inside the far (left) post for a 1-0 lead.
Peter Bowers (two goals, one assist) evened the score for Tufts with 11:22 to go in the opening period on a solo run up the left wing.
Uppgren then gave Tufts its first lead with 10:18 to go, muscling in from behind Bates' goal and shooting past Kazarian from a low angle while falling to the turf. It was the first of many Jumbo goals scored in much the same fashion.
Allard scored again from an assist by junior Evan Chen (Katonah, N.Y.) to even the game 2-2. With 6:40 to go in the first, Bates sophomore defender Ken O'Friel (Scarsdale, N.Y.) scooped a ground ball at midfield and assisted Strain to take a 3-2 lead for Bates. Tufts regained the edge before the end of the quarter with scores by Schoenhut at 5:06 and 0:42, the first a give-and-go with Uppgren and the second on a Bowers assist.
Tufts opened up the game's first two-goal lead with 12:15 to go in the second, when Bowers' shot caromed off of Kazarian and Schoenhut shoveled in the rebound.
Bates responded quickly after sophomore defender Colby Spehler (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) collected a ground ball after a Tufts turnover, outletting to senior Adam Binnie (Rye, N.H.), who fed upfield to Allard for a fast-break goal, beginning a 3-0 Bates run. Senior Will Gilkeson's (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) unassisted tally evened the game at 5-5, and with 9:40 to go, Jackson took four seconds to win the ensuing faceoff, control the ball and fire past Watkins for what would be Bates' final lead, at 6-5.
Uppgren again fed Schoenhut, who finished off a fierce cut with 8:57 to go to even the score again, and the Jumbos held the Bobcats scoreless for a 15-minute period carrying into the third quarter.
Beau Wood's first goal of the game, with 3:32 left in the second quarter, was the result of a fortunate scoop of an errant pass in front of a defenseless Kazarian, and it ignited a run of four Tufts scores in the final 3:32 of the half. Jake Gillespie and Kane Delaney had unassisted goals at 1:33 and 1:18 before Wood closed out the half with another tally from Andreycak from behind the goal line with 41 seconds left, giving the Jumbos a 10-6 lead at intermission.
Uppgren continued Tufts' uninterrupted run just 20 seconds into the third quarter, powering in on a Bates defender and unleashing an unassisted tally. Uppgren then assisted Andreycak for a 7-0 Tufts run and a 12-6 lead with 12:38 left in the third.
Bates broke up the run wiht 9:24 left in the third, as Hildebrand dealt to first-year Charlie Fay (Falmouth, Maine) in front, closing it to 12-7. Less than a minute later, Hildebrand struck again with a diving score on Watkins' front porch. A save by Kazarian and scoop by first-year defender Fred Ulbrick (Fairfield, Conn.) led to an Allard score, assisted by junior Connor Cerniglia (Annapolis, Md.), for a 3-0 Bates run to close it to 123-9 with 3:45 left in the third.
Both teams seemed to ramp up their offenses, as Beau Wood scored his third goal to answer Allard with 1:38 left. It was the first of five straight instances of alternating goals, with the Jumbos exchanging three-goal leads for four-goal edges each time. Jackson's second faceoff win followed by an unassisted tally of the game closed the gap to three for one last time with 10:25 left in the game, at 16-13.
Andreycak fed Uppgren two straight times in the game's 51st minute to make it 18-13, and the Jumbos scored six of the game's final seven goals, including a deflating man-down connection from Schoenhut to Beau Wood with 4:33 left.
Allard's goal total was the most by a Bates player since Strain netted six goals against Colby a year ago.
This Saturday at 1pm, Bates hosts Connecticut College in its final home game of the season.
