Teams: Men's Lacrosse: Schedule & Results

JUMBOS ADVANCE PAST ENDICOTT INTO NCAA QUARTERFINALS, 21-8

COLLEGE MEN'S LACROSSE FINAL SCORE
NCAA Championship Second Round
Tufts 21, Endicott 8

At Medford, MA
Saturday, May 15, 2010

Game Box Score

Sean Kirwan's seven goals were one shy of the NCAA Tournament record for a game

MEDFORD -- Sophomore Sean Kirwan (Boonton Township, NJ) scored seven goals, one shy of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship record for a game, as the sixth-ranked Tufts University Jumbos dismantled Endicott College, 21-8, in an NCAA second-round contest on Saturday afternoon at Bello Field.

Tufts, which improved to 17-1, advances to the NCAA Quarterfinals where they will host NESCAC rival Middlebury College on Wednesday (May 19). A starting time has not been announced. Middlebury won its second-round game at RPI, 16-8. Endicott College, which was making its sixth NCAA Championship appearance, ended its season with a 14-8 mark.

The Jumbos broke the game open with an eight-goal run stretching from 5:40 of the first quarter until 6:17 of the second. Sophomore Geordie Shafer (Rancho Sante Fe, CA), who had one goal for the season entering Saturday, scored three times during the Jumbo run. Kirwan scored twice, and senior tri-captain Doug DiSesa (Wynnewood, PA) scored back-to-back goals - one while Tufts was down a man - as the Jumbos took a 10-1 lead. Tufts had led 2-1 early.

Endicott regrouped and tallied four goals late in the second quarter and early in the third to pull within 11-5. Junior Jack Curtis (Chelmsford, MA) scored two of the goals for the Gulls. However, Tufts stemmed Endicott's momentum by scoring six of the next seven goals to build a 17-6 advantage early in the fourth quarter. Kirwan's four goals, including three assisted by junior Ryan Molloy (Setauket, NY), highlighted that stretch.

Curtis scored his second goal of the second half and fourth of the game for the visitors at 10:18 of the fourth quarter making it 17-7, but Tufts finished with four of the final five goals for the 21-8 rout. Junior Brian Donovan (St. James, NY) had a pair of the finishing goals.

Ten players scored goals for the Jumbos, who had a 55-33 advantage in shots. Molloy, with a goal and five assists, and junior D.J. Hessler (Monkton, MD), who had two goals with four assists, tallied six points each for Tufts. Sophomore Steve Foglietta (Oceanside, NY) stopped 14 of Endicott's 22 shots on goal, an excellent .636 percentage. Junior long-stick middie Alec Bialosky (Moreland Hills, OH) scooped up five ground balls, senior tri-captain Mike Droesch (Setauket, NY) added four ground balls to a goal and an assist, and sophomore Nick Rhoads (McLean, VA) won 18 of 32 face-offs. The hosts came out on top in the ground-ball battle 42-36.

Senior co-captain Brad Lipkvich (Madison, CT) had a goal and an assist for Endicott. Junior Chris Cotter (Fairfield, CT) assisted on two goals. Senior co-captain Eric Hagarty (Sudbury, MA) recorded 13 saves and five ground balls in the Gulls' goal. Junior defenseman Robert Crossett (Katonah, NY) was on the spot for five ground balls.

Heading into Wednesday, Tufts has defeated Middlebury twice this season. The Jumbos won 10-5 at Bello during the regular-season on April 24. Last Sunday (May 9), Tufts defeated Middlebury 13-12 at Bello to win their first NESCAC title. This marks the first trip to the national quarterfinals for Tufts, which improved to 2-2 in NCAA Championship play.

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