Monday, March 21, 2005

GRIFFIN NETS MEN'S LACROSSE ALL-TIME SCORING MARK

MEDFORD – Senior Bryan Griffin (West Islip, NY/West Islip), voted Lacrosse Magazine's 2005 Division III Preseason Player of the Year, became the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Tufts University program during Friday's 16-8 Jumbo victory against Endicott.

Griffin scored the second goal of the game at 11:55 of the first period for his 192^nd point with the Jumbos. He surpassed former captain and assistant coach Dan Kollar's previous mark of 191. Kollar, who continues to work with the team on a voluntary basis, was on the sideline to witness the changing of the guard. Griffin went on to score three goals with four assists in the game, pushing his career totals to 198 points on 119 goals and 79 assists.

A 6'2", 205-pound tri-captain this spring, Griffin made a good impression in the first game of his college career for the Jumbos. He scored three goals with two assists in a 19-7 win over MIT on March 14, 2002. He hasn't stopped scoring since. Griffin led the Jumbos as a freshman with 30 goals and 44 points, earning him New England Division III and New England Small College Athletic (NESCAC) Conference Rookie of the Year honors.

By his sophomore season, he was the New England and NESCAC Player of the Year after scoring 64 points (41g, 23a) to tie the Tufts single-season record previously held by Dan German in 1977. The nation was starting to notice, as Griffin was selected to the STX/United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-America Honorable Mention squad for 2003.

He shattered the single-season Tufts scoring mark and was New England and NESCAC Player of the Year again as a junior in 2004, scoring 41 goals and a Tufts-record 35 assists for 76 points. A marked man all season, he had the best year in Tufts lacrosse history was picked to the STX/USILA All-America Second Team.

Beyond the individual statistics and honors, Griffin's in-game production and off-the-field leadership by example has helped the Tufts program progress from nowhere into the national top 10. The Jumbos, who won eight games total from 1997-99, played in the NESCAC championship game in 2002 and finished 12-5 overall with a #20 national ranking. Last season Tufts finished the year at 13-3 with a #10 national ranking. This spring, with Griffin as one of three Jumbos to earn preseason All-America honors from Face-Off Magazine and insidelacrosse.com, the Jumbos are currently ranked seventh nationally.

Head coach Mike Daly's team fields more talent than just Griffin, with All-American midfielder Devin Clarke (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) and three-year starter Luke Chicco (Merrick, NY/Calhoun) in goal. However, #21 now leads the 75-year history of Tufts lacrosse in scoring with much more to come in 2005.

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