MEDFORD, Mass. – The #15 Endicott men's lacrosse team trailed #9 Tufts 14-7 heading into the fourth quarter at Bello Field on Tuesday evening and mounted a comeback, using a four-goal streak to pull within three at 16-13 with 6:01 remaining in regulation, but the Jumbos scored two additional insurance goals late in the period to secure an 18-13 victory over the Gulls.
After Tufts junior Cole Bailey (Millersville, Md.) netted his fourth goal of the game to push the home team's lead to 16-9, Endicott sparked their offense off back-to-back goals by junior midfielder Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) followed two straight unassisted tallies by freshman attacker Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) and junior midfielder Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.).
With just a three goal lead, Tufts turned to leading point-getter John Uppgren (Stillwater, Minn.), who scored his second of the game assisted by Bailey, and senior midfielder Beau Wood (Sherwood Forest, Md.) who beat the goalie for the fifth time to cap the scoring at 18-13. Bailey led all players with seven points in the win on four goals and three assists, Wood totaled six points, and Uppgren scored twice and assisted on two more goals to lead the Jumbos.
Cotter's five goals led all Endicott players and upped his season total to 32 on the year with 41 points overall. Junior midfielder Jeremy Morgan (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.) scored three goals, junior attacker Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) scored in the fourth quarter and registered two assists, and junior midfielder Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.) had a goal and an assist.
Endicott sophomore goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) took the loss between the pipes despite making 14 saves. Bell and the Gulls fell to 9-3 overall on the season and will look to turn things around on Saturday, April 12th when they travel down to Newport to face CCC opponent Salve Regina.
Tufts (9-2) got in a win in the cage by senior goalie Patton Watkins (Chattanooga, Tenn.) who made nine saves in the win. The Jumbos host NESCAC foe Amherst on Saturday.
Endicott was outshot in the game 59-30, saw Tufts hold a 39-27 ground ball advantage, and lost 20-of-33 face offs to the Jumbos. Tufts sophomore Conor Helfrich (North Andover, Mass.) won 19 of those face offs with a game-high 10 ground balls. Endicott got a team-high seven ground balls from freshman Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) with Bannon adding five.
Gulls defenseman Breck Merritt (Weston, Mass.) caused three turnovers with junior Will Farfalla (Glen Rock, N.J.) adding two caused turnovers. Endicott committed 18 turnovers as a team as Tufts sophomore Blake Wood (Sherwood Forest, Md.) led his team with two caused turnovers.
Endicott dropped to 3-11 all-time against Tufts since the 2003 season. Over their past four meetings, however, the two teams have exchanged wins with the home team coming out on top in each circumstance. Last season, an unranked Gulls squad defeated the Jumbos 12-10 when Tufts was ranked #7 in the country.
