Box Score
Mike
Ryan Photos (password is ephlax)
MEDFORD, Ma - The Williams College men's lacrosse team
out-scored Tufts 12-3 over the final three quarters in cruising to
a 14-6 win over the Jumbos in the first round of the NESCAC
tournament on Sunday afternoon at Bello Field.
Michael Gerbush turned away 19 of the 25 shots on the net he
faced and David Hawley recorded a rare natural hat-trick to lead
the Ephs in the win.
Seeded sixth in the tournament, Williams (8-5) earns their
second straight NESCAC semi-finals appearance next weekend at
Middlebury College, where they will play the top seeded Panthers on
Saturday at 12:00 pm. The win marks the Ephs fourth consecutive
victory and avenges their previous 7-4 defeat at the hands of the
Jumbos on March 15th.
The third-seeded Tufts' season is most likely over, bringing to
an end a successful campaign wherein they won six of their last
eight games to finish with a mark of 9-6. The Jumbos were paced by
D.J. Hessler and Ryan Molloy who each contributed a pair of goals.
Hessler had a goal and an assist in the first period, helping
the Jumbos to a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes of play. However, the
Ephs scored four straight goals in the second period,
including three in a row by Hawley, to lead 6-3 with six minutes to
go until halftime. The Jumbos would pull within two before
the half was through at 6-4.
Williams picked up where it left off, scoring the first three
goals of the second half off of shots from Brian Wrap, Michael
Vrla, and Kevin Connolly to expand their lead to 9-4 with just a
minute remaining in the fourth. But Tufts was able to score its
only goal of the quarter with 18 seconds remaining to make it 9-5
heading into the finale.
The Jumbos were able to carry that momentum into the early
goings of the final period and converted it into a goal at the
14:11 mark to cut the deficit to three. But, the Ephs scored five
times in a three-minute span, two by Richard Reuter , and led
14-6 where it would remain till the end of regulation.
Tufts did manage to tally a commanding 46-33 lead in shots and
edged Williams in ground balls 32 to 28, but with Gerbush in
the zone the lead was safe.
