Endicott upsets #4 ranked Tufts 12-10

BEVERLY, Mass. – For the second time in three years, the Endicott men's lacrosse team upset a nationally-ranked Tufts University squad as the Gulls handed the #4 ranked Jumbos a 12-10 defeat at Endicott Stadium on Tuesday night.  

Back in the 2011 season, Endicott, then ranked #18 in the country, upset #1 Tufts who were previous undefeated by a score of 9-8.  The Gulls are now 3-10 all-time versus the Jumbos dating back to their first meeting in 2003.  Endicott's only other victory came in 2008, a 10-7 win at Endicott Stadium.   

Endicott (9-3, 4-0 CCC), behind a 13-save effort in the cage by freshman goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine), ran their win-streak up to six games and now look ahead to a crucial conference match up with Roger Williams on Saturday, April 13^th at home starting at 12:00 pm.  Tufts (8-3, 4-2 NESCAC) dropped their first game since March 16^th, snapping an eight-game win-streak.  The Jumbos return to  their league schedule with a game at Amherst on Saturday at 1:00 pm.

The Gulls trailed 7-5 at halftime, but shifted momentum in their favor over the opening seven minutes of the second half with four unanswered goals to take a 9-7 lead.  Endicott outscored Tufts 6-1 in the third quarter as goals by senior Connor McCormack (Norwalk, Conn.), unassisted, and sophomore Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.), from sophomore Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.), helped to tie the game at seven just 2:29 into the second half.

At the 10:48 mark of the third period sophomore attacker Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.), off a feed from Cotter in front of the net, beat the goalie to give Endicott the 8-7 advantage.  Pinciaro's only goal of the game wrapped up the four-goal run as he collected a pass from sophomore midfielder Jonathan Morgan (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.) and fired a shot to the back of the net to make it 9-7 Gulls.

After a Tufts goal by Chris Schoenhut (Mill Neck, N.Y.) cut the lead down to one, Endicott rattled off two straight goals by Morgan and sophomore Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) to go up by three at 11-8. 

The fourth quarter saw the Jumbos outscore the Gulls 2-1 on goals by junior Beau Wood (Sherwood Forest, Md.), man-up from Andrew Fiamengo (New Fairfield, Conn.), and junior Peter Bowers (Berwyn, Pa.) off an assist from Matt Callahan (Acton, Mass.) but Weber's team-leading 25^th goal of the season kept the Tufts comeback at bay as Endicott held on for the 12-10 victory.

Bell made five saves in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.  The freshman also made five saves in the opening quarter as Tufts fired 16 shots, but came away with just two goals. 

Defensively, Endicott junior Lucas Paratore (Wenham, Mass.) led all players with five caused turnovers as he raised his season total up to 17, tied with Anthony Martignetti (Winchester, Mass.) for the team lead.  On face-offs, Gulls midfielder and reigning CCC Defensive Player of the Week Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) won 19-of-26 attempts with 12 groundballs, while also scoring a goal.

For the Jumbos, senior midfielder Sam Diss (Ridgewood, N.J.) had three of Tufts' 15 caused turnovers as a team.  Diss as well as John Heard (Greenwich, Conn.) and Jeff Chang (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) tied for a team-high four groundballs. 

Connor McCormack's four points on three goals and an assist led Endicott with Pinciaro and Weber both adding two goals and a helper.  Tordik also had two tallies as he now has 24 points on the season.  Cotter finished with three points and five groundballs, Morgan scored one and assisted on another, and sophomore Scott McCormack (Norwalk, Conn.) recorded a single assist.

Tufts' Fiamengo had a game-high six points on a hat trick and three assists.  Fiamengo's three goals put him into a tie with Wood for the team-lead in that category as both players now have 20 goals on the season.  Bowers also had a hat trick in this game with Schoenhut adding two goals of his own. 

For the game, Tufts outshot Endicott 47-40 and only committed 18 turnovers to Endicott's 27.  The Gulls had a 42-31 groundball advantage.  Tufts was 26-of-29 on clear attempts and Endicott was 23-of-30.