WATERVILLE, ME (March 5, 2023) -- Senior attack
Jack Boyden tallied eight points including five goals on Sunday, helping lead the No. 2 Tufts University men's lacrosse squad to an emphatic 27-9 season-opening victory over Colby College in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play from Harold Alfond Field.
Colby (0-1) scored the first goal of the game 1:45 into the contest, but Tufts came right back 12 seconds later to tie the game thanks to a
Kurt Bruun goal from Boyden. That tally would start a 9-0 run for the Jumbos to finish the first quarter, capped by an unassisted score from
Joe Murtha with 27 seconds to go in the period.
The momentum would continue into the second quarter, as
Charlie Tagliaferri notched his first of the year to make the score 10-1. After Colby scored to make it 10-2, Tagliaferri scored once again followed by goals from
Sam Sturim and Bruun to take an 11-goal lead at 13-2.
On the next possession, sophomore
Parker Merrill won the face-off and came in to score unassisted for the Jumbos final goal of the opening half as they led 14-3 at the break.
After the halftime intermission,
Kevin Christmas picked up right where the Jumbos had left off, scoring his first goal of the season to start an eight-goal spurt to make the game 22-3. During the stretch, Boyden scored three times while Bruun netted another pair including an man-up goal with 4:29 to play in the third.
Garrett Kelly would score his first goal of his career just before the end of the third quarter, and notched another one 1:10 into the fourth quarter to put Tufts up 24-4. First-year
Ethan O'Neill followed with an unassisted tally, his first in the blue and brown, while
Callum Wood nothed a man-up goal from
Max Melton to make the score 25-6 with 10 minutes left.
The firsts kept coming later in the fourth, as
Beau Keough also scored his first collegiate marker to put a bow on the win. 18 total players had points in the win for the Jumbos, led by Boyden who added a pair of ground balls along with seven shots on goal. Bruun finished with four goals and two helpers, while
Tommy Swank added five points on two goals and three assists.
Tagliaferri chalked up his second hat trick of his career with three goals on five shots, and
Sam Frisoli and Kelly each scored twice. First-year
Ben Frisoli also netted his first goal of his career for the Jumbos, who outshot Colby 77-33 Sunday.
The Jumbos controlled the face-off "X" as well, winning 26-of-40 draws led by the 11 wins in 13 attempts by Merrill. Merrill also had a game-high 10 ground balls, and
Chris Tsetsekos finished with eight wins in 15 face-offs. Erik Helgesen won 4-of-6, and
Victor Salcedo was also 3-for-6.
Defensively,
George Panagopoulos has a monster game with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers, while
Kyle Adelmann added four ground balls. Greg Walls finished with three caused turnovers and three loose ball pickups, and starting goalkeeper Connor Garzone gave up just four goals while stopping 11 shots.
Jack Goller scored three goals in the loss for Colby, and keeper Matt Suffredini posted 21 stops.
The Jumbos will return to action Wednesday for their home opener, hosting Springfield College at 7 p.m. on Bello Field in non-conference play.
--JUMBOS--
