NCAA Tournament Run Ends as Men's Lacrosse Falls at Tufts

2014 Endicott Men's Lacrosse Postseason Coverage

MEDFORD, Mass. – In the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament #16 Endicott came up short at #6 Tufts, falling 10-9 on the road, to end their national championship run in the second round. Playing the Jumbos for the second time this season, the Gulls controlled the tempo of Saturday's game and limited the nation's second-highest scoring offense (18.94 goals per game) thanks to offensive ball possession and strong play between the pipes by sophomore goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine).

Endicott ends their 2014 campaign, a season in-which the Blue and Green earned the program's first at-large bid, won their NCAA First Round contest over Keene State, and nearly reached the NCAA Quarterfinals, with a 15-5 overall record.

After taking a 2-0 lead with goals at 12:37 and 3:32 in the first quarter by junior midfielder Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.), Tufts scored three straight to end the opening period to take a 3-2 lead. Senior midfielder Peter Bowers (Berwyn, Pa.) scored the first two goals of that three-goal stretch followed by strike by junior midfielder Peter Gill (Medfield, Mass.) at 0:47, from Beau Wood (Sherwood Forest, Md.), that would give the Jumbos a lead they would not relinquish.

For the remainder of the game, Tufts and Endicott would battle back-and-forth with the Jumbos taking a two-goal lead and the Gulls pulling back within one with opportunities to tie the game. Endicott, however, would falter in each opportunity to tie the game including critical opportunities in the third and fourth quarter on man-opportunities.

At the 9:10 mark of the third quarter, a hard hit on Cotter forced a flag to thrown on the Jumbos for a two-minute, locked-in penalty. The Tufts defense held their own, however, and with time expiring on the penalty the Jumbos turned a save by Patton Watkins (Chattanooga, Tenn.) into a transition goal by Chris Schoenhut (Mill Neck, N.Y.) to go up 8-6.

In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Endicott drew a slashing penalty with 2:10 remaining in the game to go man-up for 60 seconds. Gulls junior midfielder Jeremy Morgan (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.) got an open look and fired the ball past Watkins but the shot hit the crossbar to keep the scoreboard at 10-9 Jumbos.

Cotter scored a team-high three goals and ends his career junior season with 74 points on 61 goals and 13 assists. His 61 goals are the fourth highest in program history behind Tom Maher (78 in 1998) and Burt Fahy (68 in 2005 and 67 in 2006). Junior attacker Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) played a strong game against the Jumbos with two goals and an assist, eclipsing his breakout totals from sophomore season with a career-high 57 points (33 goals, 24 assists).

Junior attacker Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) and junior midfielder Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.) both registered two points in the loss as Weber drilled two goals and Tordik dished out two assists to add to his team-high 34 assists this season. Both Weber (64 points) and Tordik (49 points) also set career-highs in points.

Defensively, junior Ian Knechtle (New Canaan, Conn.) had two caused turnovers and two ground balls with senior Breck Merritt (Weston, Mass.), junior Chris Cooney (Cranston, R.I.), and junior Will Farfalla (Glen Rock, N.J.) all forcing a turnover apiece. On face-offs, freshman Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) won 12-of-21 attempts on the draw with a game-high nine ground balls. Hughes in his freshman season won 62.4% of his face-offs with 200 ground balls (10.0 per game).

Singular goals were scored by freshman Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) and Jonathan Morgan (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.) while Jeremy Morgan and graduate student captain Peter Erickson (Yarmouth, Maine) both had assists.

As a team, Endicott went 1-for-3 on man-up opportunities, scoring their only goal on an unassisted tally by Pinciaro 3:45 into the second half while holding Tufts scoreless on their man-up chances as the Jumbos went 0-4.

Tufts benefited from a stellar performance in net by Watkins who made 16 saves while senior defender Kane Delaney (Brookville, Md.) caused two turnovers. The Jumbos move on the NCAA Tournament and will face the winner of Cortland State and Springfield in the quarterfinal round on May 14th.