Teams: Men's Lacrosse: Press Releases

HESSLER, MCNALLY BREAK TEAM'S SINGLE-SEASON SCORING RECORDS

Sophomore D.J. Hessler

MEDFORD -- With 240 goals in 17 games, the Tufts University men's lacrosse team is one of the top scoring teams in the country for the 2009 season. A lot of that firepower has come from the three guys up front - sophomore D.J. Hessler (Monkton, MD/St. Paul's), senior tri-captain Clem McNally (Far Hills, NJ/St. George's) and sophomore Ryan Molloy (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville).

While the team was earning its way into the NESCAC Championship game last week, Hessler and McNally broke Jumbo single-season scoring marks. Hessler is the new single-season points record-holder with 86 on 42 goals and 44 assists heading into the team's NCAA Tournament game against Western New England College on Saturday. McNally has established a single-season record for goals with 51 and counting.

Senior tri-captain Clem McNally

The single-season points record was previously 76 by Bryan Griffin in 2004 with 41 goals and 35 assists. Hessler tied the mark in Tufts' 12-8 win over Colby College in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament on April 26. He surpassed it in the semifinals, a 10-8 win against Bowdoin on Saturday. Hessler had a 10-point game (4g, 6a) in the season-opener against Amherst on March 7 and eight (5g, 3a) against WNEC on April 7.

Hessler also owns the single-season record for assists with 44, breaking Griffin's mark of 35 in '04. Hessler's 42 goals this spring are tied for the fourth-best in a year at Tufts.

McNally broke the goals record of 49 set by Dan Kollar in 2000. He tied the record with a goal in the NESCAC semi-final win over Bowdoin, then broke it with two more in a 14-10 loss to Wesleyan in the conference championship game on Sunday. He has scored goals in every game, including seven versus Colby on March 14 and six against Wesleyan on March 28. With 137 career goals, McNally is second all-time at Tufts, 11 shy of the 148 scored by Kollar from 1998-2001.

Right along with Hessler and McNally, Molloy has been a major producer with 42 goals and 18 assists for 60 points. His eight goals against Bates on March 31 is the highest single-game total of the season, and is tied for second-most all-time in a game at Tufts.

Tufts set a program record for goals in a game with its 26-3 victory over Mount Ida on March 23, replacing the 23 scored by the 2000 team against College of Wooster in the record book.

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