MEDFORD, Mass. — Two of the top Division III men’s lacrosse teams in the country squared off Tuesday with playoff implications aplenty.
Bates College, the newly minted No. 2 team in the country, bolted out to a five-goal lead at the half and stretched the advantage to seven before Tufts University roared back in the fourth quarter.
But the Jumbos’ rally fell just short as the unbeaten Bobcats remained without loss in a 19-18 win.
Matt Chlastawa and Charlie Fay led the way for Bates with six goals each. Fay’s sixth, with 3:29 to play in regulation, proved to be the difference.
As has been their wont all season, the Bobcats outshot Tufts significantly, launching 54 shots in the direction og Tufts keepers Robert Treiber and Ben Shmerler. Thirty-six of those ended up on cage. Shmerler stopped six, while Treiber turned back 11.
Mitchell Drake stopped eight to preserve the victory.
Fay’s six goals moved him into first place in the NESCAC with 47 in 11 games this season. Kyle Weber, second on the Bobcats in scoring, added four Tuesday to run his season total to 42, good for fourth overall in the league.
Danny Murphy of Tufts netted three in the contest, running his total haul this season to 44. Zach Richman led the Jumbos with four goals.
Bates College is now 11-0 overall on the season, and 8-0 in NESCAC play with two games remaining. The Bobcats next travel to face Connecticut College in New London, Conn., on Saturday before finishing up the season at home on Wed., April 26 against in-state rival Colby.
Women’s lacrosse
Tufts 13, Bates 10
LEWISTON — Emily Games scored six goals, including four in a row in the second half, to help No. 18 Tufts University pull away from Bates College in women’s lacrosse for a 13-10 NESCAC victory Tuesday at Garcelon Field.
Sydney Cowles scored three goals for Bates (6-7, 1-7 NESCAC), while Camille Belletete and Allison Dewey scored two apiece. Belletete added five draw controls, while Dewey totaled three draw controls, a game-high five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Dewey scored back-to-back goals at the 25:30 and 20:33 marks of the second half to pull Bates into an 8-8 tie. Dakota Adamec scored one of her game high three goals on a free-position shot two minutes later to give Tufts the lead for good at 9-8.
After a scoreless stretch of over seven minutes, Games, the NESCAC’s leading scorer entering the game with 36 goals, began her game-deciding outburst, intercepting a Bates outlet pass and beating Bates goalie Eliza Statile with her third goal of the game. With 5:11 to go in the game, Games was awarded a free-position shot, which she converted for her sixth tally and a 13-8 Tufts lead.
Bates got a goal back with 4:44 left, as Statile stopped a Games shot and the Bobcats ran it back for a quick counterattack, with Dewey assisting Howard to close the gap to 13-9. But Tufts played effective keep-away the rest of the way, save for a turnover caused by Dewey in the final minute, which led to a free-position goal by Liv Sandford wth 12 seconds left in the game.
Prior to Games’ explosion, the first 49 minutes of the game were back-and-forth, featuring six ties and four lead changes.
Bates will host Connecticut College on Saturday at noon in the Bobcats’ final home game of the season. Tufts will host Wesleyan Saturday at noon.
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