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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- Despite an assertive fourteen-shot,
four-goal first period start, the Williams men's lacrosse team
surrendered eight second period goals in their loss to the
conference rival Jumbos as they dropped their third game of the
season to Tufts by score of 13-9. The Ephs are now 1-3 (1-2
NESCAC) in the early going, while Tufts remains undefeated at 5-0
(3-0 NESCAC).
"They're undefeated for a reason," commented Eph head coach
George McCormack about the Jumbos. "They moved the ball very
well and made their own luck. I thought we battled them hard
early on but we were outworked in the second half."
The first 15 minutes were indeed dominated by Williams, as they
dominated time of possession and forced the Jumbos to take tough
shots. Eph sophomore attacker David Hawley registered two
goals (giving him 8 on the season) while Richard Reuter netted a
goal and two assists in the period. The junior attacker had a
total of 6 points in the loss (3 goals, 3 assists) to give him a
team-leading total of 12 points.
Reuter's second quarter unassisted tally would be the lone
offensive production for Williams, as the Tufts began to shift the
momentum of the game in their favor. Sophomore attacker D.J.
Hessler, who assisted the first Jumbo goal, opened the scoring in
the period with an unassisted strike. Tufts would put in two
more unassisted goals before the end of the second, and the two
teams entered the second half tied at five.
The score remained knotted for nearly half the quarter, until
sophomore midfielder Matt Cranshaw reclaimed the lead for his team
with an unassisted wrap-around score. Cranshaw would go on to
score two more, but unfortunately, they would stand as the only Eph
marks for the rest of the game. Cranshaw's first score was
followed by three Jumbo goals, including two by Hessler and one by
junior attacker Jamie Atkins who gave his team their first lead
since the opening minutes of the first quarter.
Cranshaw's second goal towards the end of the third had the Ephs
within one score of the equalizer, but Tufts responded with four
unanswered goals to give them a 12-7, which they held for the
remainder of the match.
"Our goals were to prevent them from scoring easy goals in the
crease, to the win face-off battle, and to outhustle them for loose
balls...I think we either lost or matched them in all three of
those areas," said MacCormack.
"We're excited for the game against Roanoke, but they are a very
similar team to Tufts, and we will have to raise our level of play
if we want to come away with a win."
The Ephs will indeed travel down to Virginia over the break to
take on the Roanoke College Maroons, who are an undefeated 8-0 and
are ranked #4 in the nation. If the Ephs can step of their
level of execution, they have a chance to come away with a huge win
that could launch the team into a big winning streak. The
match will start at 3:30pm on Wednesday, March 25th at Donald J.
Kerr Stadium.
