Contact: Ben Badua
MEDFORD, Mass. – Despite a four-goal effort from Aaron Mathias '14, the 20th-ranked Amherst men's lacrosse team saw its three-game win streak come to an end with a 25-12 loss to No. 9 Tufts University.
Outshot 67-41, the Jeffs fell to 9-3 (5-3 NESCAC) on the season, while the Jumbos improved to 10-2 (6-1 NESCAC) overall. The Jumbos' 25 goals were the most ever by Tufts in a conference game and is currently the third-highest total in team history.
Jumping out to an early lead, Tufts netted the game's first six goals, with Cole Bailey '15 tallying a pair of scores just 31 seconds apart to cap off the run. Mathias put the Jeffs on the board with a tally at the 3:15 mark of the first before Devin Acton '14 made it two in a row for the Purple & White with his team-high 36th goal of the season.
Getting a pair of scores in the final 1:28 of the opening frame, Tufts continued to roll in the second as a pair of Curt Townshend '16 and Conor Helfrich '16 markers at 11:59 and 11:54, respectively, made it 10-2. Trying to keep pace, Amherst netted three of the contest's next four goals, pulling within 11-5 thanks to a Quinn Moroney '16 man-up tally with 25 seconds left before the intermission.
Answering the Jeffs' late first half run, Tufts pieced together a 4-1 spurt over the first five minutes of the third quarter with Beau Wood '14 accounting for a pair of scores. With the teams exchanging markers over the final 10 minutes of the period, the Jumbos headed into the fourth with a 17-9 margin.
After John Uppgren '16 tacked on a pair of man-up goals in the first minute of the final frame, Dylan Park '16 answered with an unassisted tally with 11:08, trimming the Jeff deficit to 19-10. Two more Tufts scores from Bailey and Dan Leventhal '14 had the Jumbos' cushion back up to 11. Mathias scored his fourth and final goal with 8:28 remaining in regulation, but Tufts responded with one final push, outscoring the Jeffs 4-1 down the stretch.
Moroney had two goals and three assists for the Jeffs, while Matt Killian '17 also notched a pair of scores. Amherst finished with a 20-15 edge in ground balls and went 22-for-24 on clears, but won just 10-of-40 faceoffs. Uppgren had five goals and two assists to lead a Jumbo attack that converted 6-of-11 man-up opportunities. Wood and Bailey each had four goals and three helpers, while Patton Watkins '14 logged 52:34 minutes in net, making 16 saves.
Amherst returns to action on Tuesday, Apr. 15 at Springfield.