Tufts Earns 13-8 Victory Over Bates in Men's Lacrosse First Round
Courtesy Tufts Sports Information
MEDFORD, Mass. – Tufts freshman Clem McNally (Far Hills, NJ) scored six goals to lead the #4 seed Jumbo men’s lacrosse team to a 13-8 victory over #5 seed Bates College in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament at Bello Field on Sunday afternoon.
Tufts (11-5) moves on to the semifinals where they’ll play host and top seed Middlebury next Saturday. Bates (9-5) finished its season by losing its last five games after winning nine in a row to start.
With the game tied 2-2 at the end of the first period, Tufts had one of its best offensive stretches of the year to start the second period. The Jumbos scored four goals, three by McNally, to lead 6-2. The passes leading to the goals were precise, and the hosts were clicking.
Unfazed, Bates answered by taking over the momentum in the second part of the quarter and all of the third. Sophomore Bryan Frates (Woodstock, VT) scored back-to-back goals to cut the margin to 6-4 at 5:26 of the second quarter. The Tufts lead was 7-5 at the half. Bates then won the third period by a 2-0 count, with Matt Erisman (Nantucket, MA) scoring a man-up goal at 5:07 to tie the score at 7-7.
The teams traded goals early in the fourth for an 8-8 score. Tufts then put it together offensively again for a five-goal run that put the game away. McNally scored twice during the stretch. Just eight days ago, he had five goals at Bates, including the overtime winner in an 8-7 final.
Tufts had 13 players register points overall. Senior Mike O’Brien (Concord, MA) had a goal and two assists and classmate Rory Doucette (Merrick, NY) had a goal, an assist and won 16 of 19 face-offs. Freshman Matt Harrigan (Darnestown, MD) finished with 11 saves.
Bates got a goal and two assists from sophomore Justin Simon (Canaan, NH) and two goals with five ground balls from Frates. Goalkeeper Paul Kazarian (Providence, RI) stopped 10 shots.
