WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Tufts men's lacrosse team found its groove in the fourth quarter scoring eight times to defeat Williams 18-11 and win the 2021 NESCAC Championship.
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The Jumbos and Ephs were neck-and-neck for the first 45 minutes of the game, which was tied at 9-9 late in the third quarter. Williams led 3-1 after 15 minutes and 6-4 at halftime.
Senior Bryce Adam scored four times in the fourth quarter to help lead Tufts (6-0) its third straight conference title and 10th in the last 11 years. Williams (4-1) was facing the Jumbos in the conference final for the second straight season and was playing in the championship game for the fourth time.
For 2021, in lieu of the typical eight-team championship tournament, the Jumbos and Ephs vied for the title in one winner-take-all game. That game was atypical as well, as host Williams held a Tufts team that was averaging 25 goals per game to just one in the first quarter. Teh Ephs nearly shut out Tufts in the opening period, as Adam didn't score Tufts' first goal until 18 seconds remained. Ephs netminder Harry Gahagan made nine saves in the quarter and Alex Park scored twice as the hosts established the early advantage.
The trend continued into the second. Tufts finished a four-goal run in the period, including two scores by Max Waldbaum and two assists from Mac Bredahl for a 4-3 Jumbo lead at the 8:38 mark. However, the Ephs ran off goals by Park (man-up), Zachary Romrell, and Pearse Glavin to retake the lead at 6-4 and hold it until halftime. Tufts had a relatively modest 32 shots at the half compared to 25 for Williams, with Gahagan recording 11 saves in 30 minutes.
The Jumbos put together a three-goal run to start the second half, with Cam Kelleher assisting the first two goals and Adam scoring again to give Tufts a 7-6 lead with 7:15 on the clock. The teams then went back-and-forth like prize fighters for the remainder of the period with each scoring three times leaving the Jumbos with a 10-9 margin through three. Jack Boyden's goal at 2:29 would give the Jumbos the lead for good, though it certainly did not seem so at the time.
Adam, in the middle of a nine-point night (7 goals, 2 assists), scored two of Tufts' three goals to open the fourth and open a 13-9 lead, the biggest for either team all game at that point. Williams' Alex Kitt stopped the run at 7:05, but only temporary as the Jumbos went on to score the next four with two more by Adam. His seventh and final goal had Tufts up 17-10. Cory Lund (up) for Williams and Garrett Samuelson for Tufts finished the scoring.
In addition to Adam's offensive bonanza, Kelleher finished with two goals and three assists, Bredahl tallied one and four and Waldbaum had a four-point night (three goals). Kyle Helfrich won 10 of 16 face-offs, while Kyle Adelmann and Finn McTernan both caused two turnovers. Evan Cunningham won six ground balls. Joe Theuer played all 60 minutes in goal and stopped nine shots.
Park (3g, 1a), Glavin (2g, 1a) and Lund (1g, 2a) lead the Ephs offensively. Gahagan finished the night with 15 saves and also caused a pair of turnovers. James Hemmer totaled five ground balls.
The final team stats were even outside of shots, which Tufts led 64-38. The Ephs took ground balls 46-42 and the Jumbos had a slight 17-16 edge in faceoffs.
The Jumbos earn NESCAC's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
