Box Score Box Score

MEDFORD, Mass. – A tremendous performance by the Western New England men's lacrosse team came up just short as top-ranked Tufts held on for a 14-13 victory Monday afternoon (Mar. 28) at Bello Field.

The Jumbos, defending NCAA Division III champions, stayed unbeaten at 6-0 in running their winning streak to 16 games. The Golden Bears drop to 5-3.

Junior attacker Sean Kirwan (Boonton Township, NJ) led the hosts with four goals. Senior attacker D.J. Hessler (Monkton, MD) netted three goals and compiled four assists.

Trailing 9-4 at halftime, Western New England scored four unanswered goals to start the third period and outscored the Jumbos 6-1 in the quarter to tie the contest at 10-10.

Junior midfielders Patrick White (Milton, MA) and Jonathan Roy (Lewiston, ME) sparked the comeback with White scoring the second of his three goals at the 13:40 mark while Roy had an assist and goal to get the Golden Bears within 9-8 with a little over nine minutes left in the stanza.

Sophomore attacker Corrigan Harreys (Deep River, CT) tallied the equalizer with 1:30 left in the period.

Hessler fired home his final goal 2:08 into the final period and senior midfielder Matt Witko (Chappaqua, NY) scored 35 seconds later to give Tufts a 12-10 advantage. Witko finished with two goals and an assist.

White got the Golden Bears within a goal with 9:51 left in the contest before Kirwan scored at 7:41 to again make it a two-goal game.

Freshman midfielder Colton Craig (Gales Ferry, CT) scored a man-up goal just 19 seconds later for Western New England. Kirwan then found the back of the net with the eventual game-winner for a 14-12 lead with 5:53 remaining.

Western New England again fought back getting with one for the third time in the period when junior midfielder Nick Jez (Somers, CT) scored another man-up goal with 1:06 left. Junior midfielder Joe Martin (Springfield, MA) then won the ensuing face-off, but the Golden Bears missed a chance to tie in the final minute when two shots missed the mark.

Junior goalie Brewster Knowlton (Somers, CT) made 15 saves for Western New England. Freshman  Patton Watkins (Chattanooga, TN) relieved junior Steven Foglietta (Oceanside, NY) for Tufts and earned his first collegiate win with two saves in the fourth quarter.

Roy finished with a goal and two assists while Craig, senior midfielder Colin Houlihan (Yorktown Heights, NY), and junior midfielder Andrew Mariani (East Brunswick, NJ) each had a goal and assist. Sophomore defender Brian Leistikow (Fort Collins, CO) had a team-high four ground balls.

Junior midfielder Nick Rhoads (McLean, VA) captured 22-of-31 face-offs and recorded 12 ground balls for the Jumbos.

The Golden Bears, who received votes in the weekly USILA Division III poll, visit Salve Regina at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday (Mar. 30) in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) action.