No. 4 Men's Lacrosse Drops Close 14-12 Outcome to No. 2 Tufts

3/17/2012 12:00:00 AM

Box Score HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 17, 2012) – In a highly anticipated early season matchup between two nationally ranked top-five teams, the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team, ranked fourth in the nation, fell to second-ranked Tufts University, 14-12, at the De Baun Athletic Complex on March 17. Both teams earned the game unbeaten and nearly 1,000 fans stepped foot on Castle Point to catch what turned out to be a very exciting game for all 60 minutes.

The game really lived up to the billing of two of the best Division III lacrosse teams in the country and the final statistics from the contest further clarified the excitement for this showdown. Stevens took more shots, 42 to 36, converted one more clear, 15 to 14, and capitalized on all five man-up chances in the game. Stevens also forced 21 turnovers to its 17.

Tufts on the other hand, picked two more groundballs, 31 to 29, won five more face-offs, 17 to 12, and made three more saves, 11 to 8.

The Jumbos put the first tally on the board just over four minutes into the opening period and then netted another score 32 seconds later to own an early 2-0 lead. Stevens would respond with its first score of the contest by senior midfielder Taylor Brown (Cortland, N.Y.) who took a pass from senior attack Kevin Rose (Garden City, N.Y.) at the 7:23 mark of the first quarter.

Tufts would then register two more first period goals, once again, less than a minute apart, 5:52 and 5:24, to stake the Jumbos to their largest lead of the game at that time. The Ducks, however, would not allow Tufts to build any sort of momentum and actually brought the flow of the game to their side with four consecutive goals over the final 3:37 of the first quarter into the opening 2:06 of the second.

Freshman attack Andrew Scrutchfield (Lewes, Del.) cut Tufts' lead to 4-2 on an unassisted goal, and then assisted on a man-up tally by junior midfielder Rich Dupras (Hillsborough, N.J.) 32 ticks later to make it a one-goal game.

With 24 seconds to go in the opening 15 minutes of play, junior midfielder Harrison Dorne (Morristown, N.J.) knotted the game up at 4 by finding the back of the net on an unassisted score to end the offense of the first quarter.

Over the next nine total goals, the game witnessed four ties and five lead changes until Tufts went up by two, 10-8, with 4:46 remaining in the third quarter.

Leading up to that point, the Ducks took their first and only lead of the game on Brown's second goal on the contest just 2:06 into the second quarter off a pass from junior midfielder Nicolas Philippi (Mullica Hill, N.J.). Tufts knotted it up at 5; four minutes later, before taking a 6-5 lead less than a minute after. Stevens would make the best of its next man-up chance and brought the game to a 6-6 deadlock on a tally by senior attack Alex Hofrichter (Terrance Park, Ohio) at the 4:59 mark. Dupras found Hofrichter for a door step goal to pick up the first of his three assists.

After the penalty was killed by the Steven score, Tufts marched right back down the field to regain the advantage at 7-6, and go into halftime with a one-goal lead.

As the second half got under way, the Ducks netted their third man-up score and stalemated the game at 7 on a goal from Philippi, assisted by Dupras with 13:10 to go in the third. As expected, Tufts took the lead back halfway through the period, only to see senior defender Matt Marks (Cortland, N.Y.) push a clear attempt down the field and beat the Tufts goaltender with a top shelf shot, knotting the game up again, now at 8 goals apiece.

On the ensuing face-off, Nick Rhoads won the scrum, scooped up the groundball and beat Stevens' goalkeeper, senior Eric Yando (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) to put the Jumbos back on top, 9-8, with 5:45 left in the third. Tufts would never relinquish the lead from this point on.

Tufts would scored twice more before the horn sounded the end of the third quarter and take an 11-8 lead into the final 15 minutes.

The fourth man-up goal for the Ducks was tallied by Philippi from Rose to open up the scoring in the final quarter. After the Ducks' score at 13:37, Tufts netted two more scores in 31 seconds to build their largest lead of the game, 13-9, with 13:02 left in the contest.

Stevens tried to make a late game push with three more goals, but a Tufts score with 4:03 on the clock, was the difference maker. Brown scored unassisted with 8:26 remaining, and then junior midfielder Brian Seldeen (Wayne, N.J.) picked up his first goal on the contest at the 4:39 mark. Seldeen also picked up five groundballs.

After the Tufts score which made the game 14-11, Dorne took a pass from Dupras in the waning seconds of the game to pick up the fifth and final man-up score for Stevens.

Brown led the Ducks offensively with three goals, while Dupras registered four points.  Senior midfielder Michael Steinhauser (Boonton Twp., N.J.) paced the Ducks with six groundballs and won nine face-offs in 22 chances.

Yando suffered the loss in cage and made five saves in 46:44 of action before giving way to freshman Matthew Deiner (Millstone Twp., N.Y.) who stopped three shots and allowed two goals in 13:16 of play.

Stevens will be back on the field on March 21, when it travels to Montclair State University for a 4 p.m. contest and a rematch against the Red Hawks after the Ducks topped them twice last season, including a 9-7 win in the first round of the NCAA Championship.

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