MEDFORD, Mass. -- Bates College men's lacrosse gave top-ranked Tufts University all they could handle for 30 minutes of action, but a third-quarter surge propelled the No. 1 team in the nation to an 18-5 victory Wednesday at Bello Field.
Bates (8-5, 3-5 NESCAC) came out of the gates strong, trading early punches with the undefeated Jumbos (11-0, 7-0 NESCAC) and even briefly holding a 2-1 lead midway through the first quarter. After Tufts struck first at 9:14 with a goal by Jackson Redd, sophomore
Rye Kushner quickly equalized at 8:54, finishing a feed from
Riley McClure. Just two minutes later, at 6:09,
Javi Werner scored unassisted to give Bates its only lead of the game, 2–1.
Tufts responded with back-to-back goals from Max Ettinghausen at 3:01 and Jack Regnery at 1:52 to close out the first quarter with a 3–2 edge.
The second quarter saw an uptick in tempo as Tufts rattled off two quick goals from Joey Waldbaum (13:37) and Ettinghausen (13:16) to stretch their lead to 5–2. Bates responded. capitalizing on a man-up opportunity as
Xander Frey netted his 14th of the season off a pass from
Connor Hartman at 7:46. Less than two minutes later at 6:06,
Denzel Evans added another for the Bobcats (assisted by
Jack Goldbach) trimming the deficit to 5–4.
Tufts proceeded to deliver a late-half flurry. Jack Regnery scored unassisted at 1:18, then again with help from Garrett Kelly at 0:28. With just seconds left, Kelly scored on a feed from Ettinghausen as time expired at 0:00, giving Tufts an 8–4 lead at halftime.
The third quarter proved decisive. Tufts erupted with ten unanswered goals, turning a competitive game into a rout. Brooks Hauser opened the floodgates at 13:07, followed by a Regnery tally at 11:48. Garrett Kelly converted a man-up opportunity from Will Emsing at 10:45, and Ettinghausen notched his third goal at 9:58. Hauser then scored again at 9:30 off an assist from Ettinghausen. Another man-up goal, this time by Charlie Tagliaferri at 9:00, kept the Jumbos rolling. Ben Frisoli added one at 7:15, Hauser completed his hat trick at 6:42, and Ettinghausen scored his fourth at 6:25. Max Melton capped the third-quarter run with a goal at 0:24, pushing Tufts' lead to 18–4.
Bates goalkeeper,
Andrew Toland (11 saves), did what it could to withstand the onslaught, while backup goalie,
Drew Nyhus, stepped in during the fourth quarter and made three saves to keep Tufts scoreless over the final 15 minutes.
Despite the result, Bates shined n key areas. The Bobcats outshot Tufts 50–45, won the face-off battle 15–11, and finished a perfect 7-for-7 on clears in the fourth quarter.
The garnet and white will look to bounce back this Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. home game vs. No. 6 Amherst on Garcelon Field.
