MEDFORD, Mass. - Senior attacker Adam Cherry (Westfield, MA) scored four goals and had two assists as No. 8 Western New England College upended No. 5 Tufts University 9-7 Tuesday night (April 3) in a battle of unbeaten men's lacrosse teams at Bello Field.

This was the Golden Bears' first victory over the Jumbos in five meetings and avenged an 11-10 loss in the last 10 seconds last year.

Junior midfielder Jon Hayes (Waltham, MA) contributed two goals and two assists while junior attack player Bryan Cofrin (Londonderry, NH) had a goal and assist for the Blue and Gold.

Tufts scored the first goal of the evening before Western New England College took a 2-1 lead after the opening 15 minutes on man-up goals by junior midfielder Mike Kelly (Cheshire, CT) and Hayes. 

For three quarters neither team led by more than a goal. Cherry scored with six seconds left in the third period that knotted the contest (6-6) for the sixth and final time. His final goal at 11:35 of the fourth stanza gave the Golden Bears a lead it never relinquished.

Senior midfielder Brian Praetorius (Saugerties, NY) fired home a shot with 7:04 left that stretched the margin to 9-6.

Tufts pulled within 9-7 at the 2:25 mark, but couldn't dent the tough Golden Bears' defense, which came through with another top performance.

Junior goalie Chris Body (Newtown, CT) finished with 13 saves (including five in the final period) for the Golden Bears.

Junior midfielder Travis Brown (Montpelier, VT) and sophomore defenseman Jared Pabis (Wilbraham, MA) each picked-up five ground balls. Brown also won nine of 13 face-offs while junior midfielder Ben Reardon (Longmeadow, MA) took four of five face-offs.

Junior Connor Ginsberg and senior Michael Ludwig each had two goals for the Jumbos while senior Mark Warner had a goal and assist.

Western New England College is now 8-0 while Tufts drops to 6-1.

Western New England College (8-0)           2   1   2   3   -   9
Tufts (6-1)                                             1   3   2   1   -   7

Western New England College Golden Bears
Goals - Adam Cherry 4, Jon Hayes 2, Bryan Cofrin, Mike Kelly, Brian Praetorius
Assists - Adam Cherry 2, Jon Hayes 2, Bryan Cofrin
Saves - Chris Body 13

Tufts University Jumbos
Goals - Connor Ginsberg 2, Michael Ludwig 2, Chase Bibby, Alex Burnes, Mark Warner
Assists - Mark Warner 2, Matt Lanuto
Saves - Matt Harrigan 12