MIDDLETOWN, CT (April 5, 2025) -- Junior middie
Garrett Kelly picked up a loose ball and fired it home 2:26 into overtime to lift the No. 1 Tufts University men's lacrosse team over host and No. 10 Wesleyan University in an epic conference clash at Citrin Field Saturday.
The Kelly tally ended a wild game that saw 39 total goals, though the Jumbos led for the majority of the contest. Tufts (10-0, 6-0 New England Small College Athletic Conference) tallied the first three goals of the game over the opening three minutes, leading by as many as four goals multiple times in the first half.
Wesleyan would tie the game at nine with 6:17 to go in the second half on a Will Miller goal, but junior attack
Brooks Hauser netted his 22nd of the season followed by
Jack Regnery's 30th of the season to make it 11-9 Tufts with 2:44 to play in the frame. Tufts ended up leading 11-10 at the break.
After the intermission, Tufts' offense would shift into gear with a 4-0 stretch powered by back-to-back goals by
Max Ettinghausen to take a 15-10 lead at 9:02 after a
Joey Kraft score. The Jumbos lead stayed at five after a
Will Emsing strike at 6:35 of the third quarter, but Wesleyan responded with a 5-0 run to tie the game with just under 13 minutes to play in regulation.
The two teams exchanged goals until Ben Burns scored man-up with 2:42 to play to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 19-18. Less than 30 seconds later,
Charlie Tagliaferri beat his man from behind the net and scored unassisted to deadlock the game at 19.
In the final moments of the game, each team had a great chance to earn the game-winner. Wesleyan's Jack Raba nearly scored with 16 seconds left but was in the crease, and a buzzer-beating shot the other way by junior
Ethan O'Neill whizzed just wide to send the game to overtime.
In the extra session, senior
Parker Merrill gained the first possession with a face-off win, setting the Jumbos up with the ball. Regnery would have a shot blocked, followed by a shot that was saved by Emsing. The ensuing grounder off the save was scooped up by Kelly, who swung around the net and fired past Wesleyan goalkeeper Conor Selfridge to give Tufts the win.
Regnery would lead all Jumbo players with six points on four goals and two assists, taking a team-high 17 shots. Tagliaferri had three goals and two helpers, while Hauser finished with two goals and two assists. Ettinghausen tied for the team lead with four goals, and Kelly finished with three total scores.
Emsing had four points on two assists and two tallies, while Kraft and
Joey Waldbaum also scored for Tufts. Sophomore
Logan Lee had two caused turnovers to pace the Jumbos, and Waldbaum added four ground balls and a caused turnover to his goal.
Senior defender
Michael Ayers continued to scoop up grounders by the bunch, chalking up seven on Saturday, while long-stick midfielder
Ben Frisoli saw his goal-scoring streak come to an end though he still had five ground balls.
At the face-off "X", Tufts saw
Victor Salcedo win 12-of-22 while scooping up a team-leading eight loose balls, and Merril was 12-of-21 with three ground balls. Tufts outshot Wesleyan 62-50 on the game, and finished 22-of-23 on clear attempts.
Raba led all players with eight points on a goal and seven assists, while Ben Burns had six goals and an assist. CK Giancola also had five goals for the Cardinals (6-3, 4-2 NESCAC).
With the win, the Jumbos have posted another 10-0 start, the fourth time since 2018 that Tufts has accomplished that feat.
Tufts will return to NESCAC action on Wednesday afternoon, April 9 at 5:30 PM on Bello Field, hosting Bates College in Medford, MA.
--JUMBOS--
