MIDDLETOWN, CT (April 15, 2023) -- The No. 1 Tufts University men's lacrosse team scored 19 goals in the first halftime to take control over No.15 Wesleyan on the road at Jackson Field in Middletown, CT and come out with a 25-16 road NESCAC victory.
Tufts started the first quarter scoring the first nine goals as they raced out to a 9-0 lead early.
Jack Regnery got the scoring started for the Jumbos as
Sam Frisoli would double the lead just 24 seconds later. Following a failed Wesleyan clear,
Joe Murtha found the back of net and Tufts now led 3-0 just 2:46 into the game forcing a Cardinal timeout. The next four goals for the Jumbos all came in the span of 1 minute and 37 seconds as
Tommy Swank scored twice during the sequence first on the man-up off the assist from
Charlie Tagliaferri and then again following a Tufts face-off win.
Regnery would score again along with
Cam Delcristo getting on the board as the Tufts led 7-0. Next it was
Sam Sturim and Tagliaferri who found the back of the net as the lead grew to 9-0 with 2:21 remaining in the first quarter. Wesleyan would score two before the end of the quarter as Pat Doherty scored with 20 seconds left as the first quarter ended with Tufts leading 9-2.
Jack Boyden got the scoring going to start the second quarter after
Victor Salcedo won the faceoff and found Boyden who put Tufts up 10-2. With Tufts on the extra-man, Murtha scored his second of the game as Tagliaferri added his second assist.
Max Ettinghausen and
Kevin Christmas each added a goal as the lead was now 13-2. Swank notched another hat trick this season as he took the feed from Tagliaferri and made it 14-2.
The Cardinals would get the next two to cut the Jumbo lead to 10 before
Louis Timmins and
Ben Frisoli scored to bring the Jumbo lead back to 12 goals at 16-4. A fourth assist for Tagliaferri found Regnery as the freshman scored his second of the game and Regnery would make it 18-4 off the assist from
Sam Frisoli.
Joey Waldbaum's goal with two seconds left gave Tufts a 19-5 lead going into halftime.
The third quarter saw back and forth actions between the team as Murtha would score another man-up goal and give him a hat trick. Wesleyan would get the next two before Boyden and Bruun scored to bring the Jumbo lead back up to 22-7. The Cardinals would score three of the next four goals as Pat Doherty scored twice in the sequence. The two teams were goal less for the final four minutes of the third quarter and Tufts led 23-10 headed to the final quarter.
Wesleyan scored the first four goals of the fourth quarter as they cut the Jumbo lead to 10 with just under 10 minutes remaining.
Callum Wood scored the next goal to break the Wesleyan run as
Sam Frisoli added his second assist in the game and Tufts led 24-13.
Joey Kraft found the back of the next after a Wesleyan goal before Wesleyan scored the last two goals of the game as the game would end 25-16.
Tagliaferri racked up six points with one goal and five assists, while Swank and Regnery scored four goals with Swank adding two assists.
Sam Frisoli, Boyden, and Murtha all had three points in the game
Mason Kohn finished the game going 13-for-19 at the "X" and scooping up 10 ground balls.
Conner Garzone maned the crease for Tufts and made 17 saves in the game.
Kyle Adelmann had a very solid game with five ground balls and four caused turnovers, and Waldbaum forced two turnovers. As a team, Tufts out shot Wesleyan 76-52 and had the ground ball advantage 37-36. The Jumbos were also a perfect 21 for 21 on clears.
Doherty and CK Giancola registered a team-high three goals for Wesleyan, while Jack Raba tallied four points with two goals and two assists as well. Conor Selfridge made 12 saves in the game.
Tufts will continue in NESCAC action next Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., taking on Hamilton College at home for senior day.
