Teams: Men's Lacrosse: Press Releases

JUMBOS HOST MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE IN NCAA QUARTERFINAL ON WEDNESDAY

MEDFORD -- Following their 21-8 victory over Endicott College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday at Bello Field, the Tufts University men's lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals and will host Middlebury College on Wednesday (May 19) at Bello Field beginning at 4:00 pm.

Tickets to Wednesday afternoon's game will be available at the gate. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for students with ID, and $3 for children under 12.

Coach Mike Daly's Jumbos received a first-round bye in the 2010 NCAA Championship and hosted Endicott in a second-round game on Saturday (May 15) at Bello Field. Sophomore Sean Kirwan (Boonton Township, NJ) scored seven goals, one shy of the NCAA Championship record for a game, leading Tufts to the rout.

This is the second straight NCAA berth and the third overall for Tufts. The Jumbos have a 2-2 record in the NCAA Championship. In their first NCAA game on May 9, 2007, Tufts built an 8-1 lead and then narrowly survived an Endicott comeback to move on in the NCAA Tournament with a 9-8 victory at Bello Field. Current senior Jamie Atkins (Concord, MA) scored a goal as a freshman in that game. The Jumbos lost 12-7 at Gettysburg in the 2007 second round. Last season in the second round, spurred by a 4-0 third period, Western New England College defeated Tufts 12-9. D.J. Hessler (Monkton, MD) added three assists to the Tufts attack. Defensemen Eytan Saperstein (Hewlett, NY) and Evan Crosby (Yarmouthport, MA) played well with six ground balls apiece. Nick Rhoads (McLean, VA) won nine of 17 face-offs. Wednesday's contest will be the fourth NCAA men's lacrosse game played at Bello.

Tufts and Middlebury have played twice previously this spring. The Jumbos won their first NESCAC title on May 9 with a thrilling 13-12 final over the Panthers. Tufts scored six unanswered goals, including two each by Hessler and Matt Witko (Chappaqua, NY), to battle back from a four-goal deficit and defeat Middlebury to earn the conference's automatic NCAA berth. Witko scored four goals overall and Hessler finished with two goals and two assists to lead the Jumbos. Junior David Hild (West Hartford, CT) scored a game-high seven points with five goals and two assists to lead Middlebury, who held an 11-7 lead with 5:17 remaining in the third quarter.

On April 24, Kirwan scored two of his game-high four goals during a 5-0 opening run by the Jumbos, leading to a 10-5 Tufts victory against Middlebury. Tufts tied their program record for regular-season wins that day, improving to 12-1. They have since obliterated the mark with their 17-1 overall record entering the NCAA Quarterfinals. Sophomore goalie Steven Foglietta (Oceanside, NY) stopped 13 of Middlebury's 18 shots on goal in the regular-season game. Hild again led the visitors with two goals.

The Panthers advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament after a 16-8 victory over Rensselaer at East Campus Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Hild had a huge game at attack for Middlebury, scoring five goals, while assisting on another. With the win, the Panthers (13-5) improved to 31-10 all-time in NCAA play.

Wednesday's Tufts-Middlebury game will be carried by JumboCast, Tufts University's student webcasting outfit, for free at http://www.jumbocast.com/index.php. Live stats will also be available at http://ase.tufts.edu/athletics/statscrew/xlive.htm.

►2010 NCAA Div. III Men's Lacrosse Championship bracket

Materials from Middlebury College's website were used in this release.

Sophomore Sean Kirwan nets one of his seven goals against Endicott in the second round
(Photo courtesy of Robert Augart/Massachusetts Event Photography)

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