ON THE MOVE. Brody Savoie looks for opening around a Tufts' defender during Saturday's NCAA Tournament game. Savoie scored three goals as the Golden Bears downed the Jumbos 12-9 to advance to the national quartrfinals for the third consecutive year. --- Photo by John Risley

MEDFORD, Mass. - In a season full of big games, this was perhaps the best of all.

Junior Tim Santye (Skillman, NJ) had three goals with an assist, and senior Brody Savoie (Wilbraham, MA) netted three goals as No. 9 Western New England College posted a 12-9 victory over No. 12 Tufts in a semifinal round game of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday afternoon (May 5) at Bello Field.

The Golden Bears (17-2) now advance to the national quarterfinals at Cortland (a 15-12 winner over Springfield) on Wednesday (May 13).

Western New England College had suffered a 15-4 loss to the host Jumbos back on April 7, which was its worst loss of the year.

WNEC re-grouped and has now reeled off 11 consecutive victories in tying the school record for wins set in 2007 and advancing to the final eight for the third straight season.

In his pre-game talk, coach John Klepecki stressed a total team commitment and his squad delivered it by outplaying a talented Tufts unit on both offense and defense.

Freshman goalie Brewster Knowlton (Somers, CT) played a key role compiling 18 saves, including a huge stop with 1:10 left and the Golden Bears up by only two goals.

Freshman Patrick White (Milton, MA) fired home two goals while senior Scott Kukis (Sudbury, MA) and sophomore Marty O'Brien (West Springfield, MA) each contributed a goal and assist.

There were six ties in the opening half as the Jumbos took a 7-6 lead following the first goal of the season by junior Zach Groen (New Haven, CT) with 12.6 seconds left in the half.

The game turned around dramatically for Western New England College in the third stanza.

White scored 52 seconds into the period for the final tie of the contest and the Golden Bears tallied three more times on goals by O'Brien, Savoie, and Santye in taking a 10-7 advantage.

The Western New England College defense (ranked third nationally with a 6.1 average) held the Jumbos without a goal for 21 minutes, 29 seconds in the second half.

Tufts entered the contest averaging 14.1 goals a game.

The fast-paced contest featured 107 shots, including 58 for Western New England College. Yet for all the hard hits, there were only four penalties (two on each squad).

Senior Kevin Williams (Merrick, NY) led the hosts with three goals while D.J. Hessler (Montkon, MD) had four assists.

Senior Clem McNally (Far Hills, NJ) chipped in with a pair of goals while senior goalie Matt Harrigan (Darnestown, MD) stopped 16 shots.

Tufts finishes its season with a 13-5 record.