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Teams: Men's Lacrosse: Press
Releases
Monday, April 30, 2008
HARRIGAN IS PLAYER OF THE WEEK AS MEN'S LACROSSE EARNS FIRST
PLACE
 MEDFORD
-- With victories at Amherst College and at home against Middlebury
College last week, the 2007 Tufts University men's lacrosse team
earned its first-ever New England Small College Athletic Conference
(NESCAC) regular-season title. Sophomore goaltender Matt Harrigan
(Darnestown, MD/Landon) was the steadying force behind both
wins, and he has been named the conference's Player of the Week for
the second time this season.
Both were must-win games for the Jumbos, and Harrigan was at his
best in the second half of both contests when the outcomes were
decided. At Amherst on Tuesday, Harrigan made nine of his 15 saves
in the second half when Tufts came back from a 7-5 halftime deficit
to win 11-9. On Saturday versus Middlebury, the Jumbos defeated the
Panthers for the first time in 40 years, 7-6 in overtime, to clinch
first place in NESCAC. Harrigan's 16 saves (10 in the second half)
were a critical factor, allowing sophomore Chase Bibby
(Marblehead, MA/St. John's Prep) to score the winning goal 1:45
into overtime. Tufts finished 8-1 in league play.
For the week overall, Harrigan had a stellar .674 save percentage
with 31 stops and 15 goals allowed in 121 minutes, 45 seconds of
action. He was also the conference's choice as the Co-Player of the
Week on March 26.
Currently, the 5'11�, 175-pounder is second in the conference with
12.57 saves per game and fifth with his .613 save percentage and
7.86 goals against average. The two victories lifted Harrigan's
career record at Tufts to 23-8. He's played every minute in the
Jumbo cage since arriving at Tufts and has a save percentage over
60-percent (.604) in his two seasons.
By virtue of winning the regular-season NESCAC race, Tufts will host
the conference tournament semi-finals and championship game this
weekend (May 5-6) at Bello Field. The Jumbos will play Middlebury
again on Saturday in the first semi-final at 12:00 pm. Wesleyan and
Williams will meet in the other semi-final at 3:00 pm. The
championship game is slated for Sunday at 1:00.
Head coach Mike Daly's Jumbos are 12-2 overall and ranked seventh
nationally this week.#
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