JUMBOS EDGED IN NESCAC TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINAL, 10-9

COLLEGE MEN'S LACROSSE FINAL SCORE
NESCAC Tournament Semi-final
Wesleyan 10    Tufts 9

At Middlebury, VT
Saturday, May 8, 2004

Goals: T: Devin Clarke 2, Bryan Griffin 1, Mark Warner 1, Mike O'Brien 1, Jesse Miller 1, Drew Innis 1, Michael Hughes 1, Billy Granger 1; W: Ian Applegate 3, Chris Meade 2, Mike Vitulano 2, Glenn Adams 1, Chris Knacke 1, Jordan Funt 1.

Assists: T: Griffin 1, Warner 1, O'Brien 1; W: Funt 4, Adams 1.

Saves: T: Luke Chicco (60:00 - 10 GA) 11 saves; W: Matt Wheeler (60:00 - 9 GA) 9 saves.

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - In the NESCAC Tournament semi-finals, Wesleyan scored an improbable goal with four seconds left to lift them to a 10-9 win over Tufts and a trip to the NESCAC Championship game. The Cardinals will take on the host school from Middlebury, a 7-2 winner over Amherst, in the title game at noon on Sunday.

Tufts came out strong, using four different goals scorers to take a 5-1 lead into the halftime break. The teams exchanged the first four goals of the third quarter, leaving Tufts with a 7-3 lead with 8:24 remaining in the third quarter. Wesleyan then scored a pair in 1:45 to cut the lead to 7-5 with 4:15 left in the third. Chris Meade scored the first with a nice dish from Jordan Funt, while Ian Applegate found the back of the net for the second tally.

Sophomore Michael Hughes (Branford, CT) answered with a man-up goal for Tufts, before Applegate scored again to close the quarter with just eight seconds remaining. Tufts increased its lead to 9-6 early in the fourth quarter as senior Drew Innis (Weston, CT) scored with a feed from junior Bryan Griffin (West Islip, NY). That would be the Jumbos' final goal of the game as Wesleyan possessed the ball for much of the quarter. Funt cut the lead to two, before Mike Vitulano scored a pair in eight seconds to tie the game at nine with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter.

Wesleyan kept up the pressure, with Tufts goalkeeper Luke Chicco (Merrick, NY) making two nice saves at the two-minute mark on back-to-back shots from the Cardinals. Chicco made another save on a bounce shot from Applegate with 15 seconds remaining, and then tracked down the ground ball 15 feet in front of the goal crease. He quickly flung the ball up-field where it was intercepted by Glenn Adams 15 feet from midfield. Adams quickly fired the ball at the Tufts goal and scored on the empty net for the game-winner with four seconds remaining.

Applegate led Wesleyan scorers with three goals, while Funt added a goal and four assists. Junior Devin Clarke (Ridgewood, NJ) scored a pair to pace the Jumbos. Chicco ended the day with 11 saves, while Matt Wheeler made nine for Wesleyan.

Wesleyan improved to 14-3, avenging a 10-7 loss to Tufts during the regular season. Tufts dropped to 13-3 overall.

#