BEVERLY, Mass. – An 8-0 first quarter run by the third-ranked Tufts men's lacrosse team doomed #8 Endicott as the Gulls suffered a 22-6 defeat at the hands of the Jumbos Tuesday night. Senior attacker Cole Bailey (Millersville, Md.) erupted for nine points on five goals and four assists while junior attacker John Uppgren (Stillwater, Minn.) continued his torrid pace to the 2015 season with four goals and four assists in the win.
Endicott (10-3) managed to gain their composure for most of the second quarter as sophomore attacker Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.) netted three of his four tallies with assists to Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.), Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.), and Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.) but the deficit was too large for the Gulls who were also stymied by Jumbos goalie Alex Salazar (Summit, N.J.). Salazar made 16 saves between the pipes and frustrated an Endicott's attack that had produced 16.0 goals per game prior to Tuesday night's match up.
Along with Tufts' offensive efficiency was their ability to gain possession on face-offs with junior Conor Helfrich (North Andover, Mass.) taking 17-of-25 attempts with 13 groundballs. The Jumbos would go on to win 20-of-31 face-offs with senior Ryan Le (San Jose, Calif.) adding three victories late in the game. Overall, Tufts held a 54-35 groundball advantage.
Aside from Bailey and Uppgren's output, Tufts also saw sophomore Zach Richman (Woodmere, N.Y.) score three times and both juniors Garrett Clarke (Ridgewood, N.J.) and Kyle Howard-Johnson (Chatham, N.J.) tally three points on two goals and an assist. By the final whistle, 11 different Jumbos found the back of the net for goals.
Bannon and Weber would also score goals for Endicott to go along with their assists on Jennings' goals. Senior Matt Holzinger (Fairfield, Conn.) recorded an assist in the loss as well.
Defensively, Endicott's Ian Knechtle (New Canaan, Conn.) led all players on the field with three caused turnovers with eight groundballs. Freshman midfielder Nicholas D'Elia (Stanford, Conn.) scooped five groundballs and caused a turnover as he continued to see more game action in his rookie season.
Between the pipes for Endicott, junior goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) took the loss after managing to make 10 saves. Bell gave way to sophomore goalie Kenny Sturgess (Hampstead, N.H.) who shined in just over 12 minutes of playing time. Sturgess was peppered with shots and ended with nine saves against the Jumbos attack.
Endicott will look to right the ship on Wednesday night when they visit CCC and cross town rival Gordon for a 7:00 p.m. start. Tufts (12-1) returns to their NESCAC schedule for a road match up with Amherst on Saturday, April 18th at 1:00 p.m.
