MEDFORD, MA (May 16, 2023) -- The No. 1 Tufts University men's lacrosse was selected as a quarterfinal and semifinal weekend host and will host No. 3 RIT, No. 5 Middlebury, and No. 11 Lynchburg. The games will start on Saturday at 2 P.M. in the 2023 Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament Quarterfinal and Semifinal games on Bello Field. All four teams won in the second and third rounds of the NCAA Tournament last weekend to advance.
Championship Details:
2023 NCAA Tournament Second and Third Round
vs. Lynchburg (15-6) -
Team Home Page
Dates: May 20-21, 2023
Location: Medford, MA – Bello Field (
Directions)
Coverage:
Live Stats -
Live Video -
NCAA Interactive Bracket
Tufts vs. Lynchburg All-Time
These two programs have met three times previously with the most recent coming earlier this season on March 14. The Jumbos are 3-0 against Lynchburg all time, picking up wins in 2015, 2022, and 2023. The win in 2015 came in the National Championship game in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field
Series History
2023 - Tufts, 19-4 - Medford, MA
2022 - Tufts, 21-11 – Lynchburg, VA
2015 - Tufts, 19-11 – Philadelphia, PA – National Championship Game
A Look at the Jumbos (20-0, 10-0 NESCAC)
Tufts University makes its 13
th straight appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals and looking to make its third consecutive and eighth all-time appearance in the Final Four. Tufts has won three national championships and has been an NCAA finalist five times.
The Jumbos come into this weekend after defeating Emmanuel College (MA) 27-5 in the NCAA Tournament Second Round at Bello Field and then No. 10 York (Pa.) 22-7 in the Third Round. Tis season Tufts has defeated 11 ranked teams along with winning the New England Small Colleges Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship over No. 5 Middlebury.
Offensively, senior attackman
Jack Boyden has another stellar season as he was named a USA Lacrosse Magazine Division III First Team All American last week. Boyden has racked up an impressive 148 points with 64 goals and 84 assists. He recorded seven points in the victory over York last Sunday and has seven games this season with 10 points or more.
Kurt Bruun is another senior attackman, who after missing all last season with an injury, has comeback even stronger, posting 101 points on 57 goals and 44 assists. On the USA Lacrosse Magazine All-American, Bruun was named to Third Team. He has five or more points in four of his last five games. Also on attack,
Tommy Swank has a team leading 65 goals and 20 assists for 85 points. He has scored 10 man-up goals this season and had five goals and an assist in the two games last weekend.
Running out of the midfield, first-team All-Conference selection and second team All American,
Charlie Tagliaferri has improved his production from last year with 36 goals and 13 assists for 49 points. Freshman
Jack Regnery has been solid with 26 goals, while
Max Ettinghausen and
Kevin Christmas both have scored 18 goals. The Jumbos have 11 players that have 10 or more goals this season.
On the defensive side, the close defense trio of
Kyle Adelmann,
George Panagopoulos, and
Joey Waldbaum, have been stellar all season. Adelmann, a second team All American selection, is second on the team in ground balls with 73 and leads the team in caused turnovers with 40. Waldbaum was a first-team all-conference and All-American selection has 69 ground balls and 37 caused turnovers. Panagopoulos has caused a turnover in five of his last six games.
In goal,
Conner Garzone has been solid all season with a 56.3 save percentage and 10.00 goals against average. At the faceoff "X" fist team All American
Mason Kohn has been dominant winning 70.8 percent of his faceoffs and scooping up 154 ground balls.
Tufts has the No. 1 scoring offense averaging 21 goals per game. They are second at Division III in ground ball per game with 47 a game.
Head coach
Casey D'Annolfo comes into the weekend with 102 wins for his career, picking up his 100th win in the NESCAC Championship versus Middlebury.
A Look at the Hornets (15-6, 8-1 ODAC)
Lynchburg travels to Medford coming off a 14-8 win over No. 13 Denison in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hornets received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after falling in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) title game to No. 9 Washington & Lee 12-11.
Lynchburg is making its 16th appearance in the Division III men's lacrosse NCAA Tournament, and it is 11th consecutive. This is their sixth appearance in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in program history.
Junior attackman Jake Rust leads the way for the Hornets with 40 goals to go with 10 assists for 50 points. In the two games last weekend, he scored five goals and had two assists for seven points. Senior midfielder Riley Mitchell leads the team in points with 59 on 32 goals and 27 assists. In the matchup earlier this season against the Jumbos, he scored a goal and had two assists for three points.
Freshman Spencer Vandenberg is another 30-goal scorer for the Hornets as he scored twice in the win over N0. 13 Denison and has scored two or more goals in six of his last eight games. Also on attack is Finn Schmidt who has scored 30 goals to go along with 17 assists for 47 points. In total, the Hornets have 10 or more players that have scored 10 or more goals.
Defensively, Chris Darminio leads the way with 26 caused turnovers and 111 ground balls this season. In total Emmanuel has four players that have caused 10 or more turnovers with Dom Zingo causing 19 turnovers and scooping up 34 ground balls. Henri Marindin has collected 37 ground balls while causing 10 turnovers.
Starting in net is senior Tyler Hadley, who has a record of 14-6 this season with a 59.2 save percentage. He has made 252 saves this season for 10.10 goals against average.
Lynchburg is coached by Steve Koudelka who is in his 26th season as head coach. He has a record of 347-144 as head coach of the Hornets. They have won the ODAC Championship nine times under Koudelka's leadership.
A Look At RIT (20-1, 11-0 LL)
RIT comes into the weekend with a 15-game winning streak have gone a perfect 11-0 in the Liberty League (LL). RIT defeated both Western Connecticut and Babson last weekend at home to advance in the NCAA Tournament.
RIT is making their 26th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament having won the National Championship in both 2021 and 2022. This is their sixth consecutive appearance in the quarterfinal round.
On the offensive side, Senior Luke Pilcher leads the way with 60 goals and has 27 assists for 87 points. He scored five goals and an assist in the two games last weekend and has scored 12 man-up goals this season. Clifford Gaston is having another strong season as he has scored 48 goals to go with 16 assists for 64 points. He has scored six goals in a game this season twice.
Midfielder John Morzall leads the team in assists with 43 to go with his 20 goals for 63 points. He has an assist in each of his last 10 games including a stretch of four straight games with three or more assists. TJ Hendricks and Spencer Bell each have scored 35 goals this season as they each had two or more goals in both games last weekend. In total 11 players have 10 or more goals this season for RIT.
Defensively, eight players have caused 10 or more turnovers as Taylor Jensen leads the team with 38 and has 83 ground balls. Michael Grace has caused 34 while scooping up 60 ground balls. Joe Camp has 44 ground balls.
In goal, Will Sterrett, has a 56.3 save percentage and has made 126 saves for an 8.37 goals against average.
RIT has the No. 3 man-up offense at the Division III level, while also having the No. 3 clearing percentage as well.
RIT is coached by Jake Coon who has an impressive 248-25 record in his 14th season at the helm. He owns the highest winning percentage in NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse history and was guided RIT to back-to-back national championships.
A Look At Middlebury (18-2, 9-1 NESCAC)
Middlebury will travel to Medford for a third time this season after they defeated St. Mary's College of Maryland and No. 17 Union last weekend to advance. They received an at-large big to the NCAA Tournament after losing in the NESCAC Championship game to Tufts on May 7th.
The Panthers are making their 18th appearance in program history and they made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016. They have made the quarterfinals 12 times previously and have won three national championships from 2000-2002.
Russell Thorndike leads the way for the Panthers with 44 goals this season to go along with 21 assists for 65 points. He scored five goals in the two games last weekend and has a goal in 18 of 20 games this season.
Billy Curtis leads Middlebury in both points and assists as he has 41 assists to go with 25 goals for 66 points. He had three assists against St. Mary's and then scored two goals against Union. Curtis had recorded at least one point in every game this season.
William Ryan is another 40-goal scorer for the Panthers with 43 goals and 12 assists. His seven man-up goals are tied for first on the team. First-Year midfielder Cooper DeMallie has come in and contributed right away with 31 goals. In total 10 players have 10 or more goals for the Panthers.
On defense, Luke Simpson leads the way with 44 caused turnovers. He also is second on the team in ground balls with 71. In total nine defenders for Middlebury has 10 or more caused turnovers as Drew Dummer has 20. Finn Muldoon has 41 ground balls.
Freshman Hayden Kern has started every game this season and has a 50.7 save percentage. He has made 217 saves for 10.86 goals against average.
The Panthers are led by Dave Campbell who is in his 16th season in charge. He as 170-92 record while at Middlebury and was head coach at Connecticut College for three seasons beforehand going 18-27.
--JUMBOS--
