NESCAC Showdown Goes to Connecticut College
from press release
NEW LONDON, Conn.--Steve Dachille (Garden City,
N.Y.) exploded with five goals as the eighth ranked Connecticut
College Men's Lacrosse Team upended sixth ranked Tufts University,
8-6, in a showdown between the two remaining undefeated teams in
the NESCAC played at New London Saturday.
The Camels (12-0, 7-0) frustrated the Jumbos with their physical
ride, limiting the visitors to four clears in 11 second half
attempts. The visitors entered the contest averaging 13.6 goals per
game but had difficulty possessing the ball from the outset.
Despite Saturday's loss, the Jumbos (10-1, 6-1) are still in good
position to host a NESCAC Championship Quarterfinal May 2.
Dachille, who leads the league with 37 goals scored, was pleased
with the team's efforts in another big conference win.
"We try not to put too much stock into any one game," Dachille
said. "Every day, we just want to go 1-0. Obviously for the
spectators and everyone else, this was a bigger event. But for us,
we just wanted to come out and win the game. They have a great
team. They have ridiculous offensive fire power. They really like
to run and gun. But we proved today that we can instill our own
style on other teams."
Junior Ryan Hayes (Darien, Conn.) had a goal and two assists in the
victory. Eric Doran (Pennington, N.J.) chipped in with a goal and
an assist. Sophomore Rob Moccia (Malvern, Pa.) collected four of
his nine saves in the fourth quarter for the winning side.
Sophomore Kevin McCormick (Laytonville, Md.) finished with two
goals and one assist to lead the visitors. Junior attackmen D.J.
Hessler (Monkton, Md.) and Ryan Molloy (Setauket, N.Y.) both
contributed with a goal and an assist in the setback for the
Jumbos.
Sophomore net-minder Steven Foglietta (Oceanside, N.Y.) made four
saves in the contest for Tufts. The two teams played to a 2-2 tie
after one and were knotted up at four at the intermission. With
9:25 remaining in the third, Dachille rifled one home from the top
of the box. Hayes assisted on the goal. But Tufts responded with
8:16 left, as Tom Butterfield-Bragg (Bath, Maine) connected with
McCormick for a goal to even the score at 5-5.
Doran answered for the Camels with a nifty spin move and score from
the right side with 3:56 to go and the hosts were clinging to a 6-5
lead after three quarters.
Dachille added an important insurance goal 1:56 into the fourth as
he elevated for a one-timer on a feed from Doran to make it a 7-5
game. With 58 second left, the Jumbos cashed in on extra man
opportunity when McCormack scored his second of the game to trim
the deficit to 7-6.
Tufts had one final chance to score the equalizer in the closing
moments, but Sean Driscoll (Driscoll, Mass.) intercepted an outlet
pass on his ride and beat Foglietta back to the cage for a goal to
close out the 8-6 win for the Camels.
Connecticut College Head Coach Dave Cornell was pleased to get the
home win against an explosive and talented Tufts squad.
"I'm just so happy for our guys right now," Cornell said. "They put
in so much work. We've been working so hard every week to improve
as a team. We think Tufts is a very a dangerous team in unsettled
situations. We got caught a couple of times, but for the most part,
we rode them very well."
Connecticut College sophomore Chuck Czerkawski (Cohasset, Mass.)
won 9-of-14 face-offs to go with a team-high five ground balls.
Sophomore Nick Rhoads (McLean, Va.) was 6-for-13 on the face with
four ground balls for the Jumbos.
Tufts will host the Endicott Gulls Tuesday night for a 7:00 p.m.
game in Medford, Mass. The Camels will host the Wheaton College
Lyons Monday afternoon for a 4:30 p.m. game in New London.
