No. 1 Jumbos Close Door on Historic Men’s Lacrosse Run in NCAA Tourney Second Round

MEDFORD, Mass. – The historic 2023 campaign for Emmanuel College came to a close Saturday afternoon for the Saints following a 27-5 loss to No. 1 Tufts University in Second Round action of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse tournament at Bello Field.   

THE BASICS 

Score: 
No. 1 Tufts University, 27 – Emmanuel College, 5

Records: 
Emmanuel Saints (16-6, 9-1 GNAC)
Tufts Jumbos (19-0, 10-0 NESCAC)

Location: Medford, Mass. – Bello Field

Date: Saturday, May 13, 2023

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The high-flying Jumbos offense wasted no time to get the scoring started in the Second Round match-up as first year Victor Salcedo (Fredericksburg, VA) won the opening face and took it right in for a score for the hosts just six seconds into the contest. Tufts went on to outscore Emmanuel 7-0 in the quarter to build a lead that would prove to be insurmountable for the Saints on the day.
• Following almost four minutes of scoreless action to begin the second, junior Kevin Christmas (Bethesda, Md.) moved the lead to 8-0 before Emmanuel senior Drew Chant (Warwick, R.I.) got the Saints on the board with 9:57 to play in the half with an unassisted marker to make it 8-1.
• Over the next 13 minutes of clock time, Tufts put together a 10-0 scoring barrage that included three goals by first year Beau Keough (Brookline, Mass.) and two from sophomore Callum Wood (New Canaan, Conn.) to give the hosts an 18-1 cushion with 12:44 to play in the third.
• The Saints played their best lacrosse of the afternoon to close the third, playing the Jumbos even for over 10 minutes of action that saw senior Ryan Castle (Boxford, Mass.) find the back of the net twice along with a goal by first year Ryan Etzo (Bedford, N.H.) to bring the score to 21-4 through three quarters.
• Tufts rattled off six more goals to open the fourth but Emmanuel ended the scoring as senior Derek DelVecchio (Saugus, Mass.) closed his career with a phenomenal effort play, running through a Jumbo defender to get to the goal for a score with 14 seconds remaining to account for the 27-5 final.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Wood finished with a game-high four goals while sophomore Joey Kraft (Newton, Mass.) recorded a game-high seven points on three goals and four assists.
• Castle closed his Emmanuel career with the two goals to give him 55 on the year, a new EC single-season record and 132 in his career to rank second all-time just six shy of the Emmanuel career mark of 138 by Chris Curtis '16.
• The Jumbos owned a 72-21 shot advantage on the day, holding EC to single-digit attempts in every quarter.
• The hosts also doubled up the Saints in groundballs, grabbing 52 compared to only 26 for EC.
• Tufts held Emmanuel scoreless on its four man-up opportunities, all 30-second penalties, killing one penalty in both the first and fourth quarter as well as a pair of penalties in the second frame.
• EC senior goalie Randy Castle (Boxford, Mass.) made 12 saves in the opening half before junior Eric Anderson (Sparta, N.J.) stopped eight shots in the second half. Despite suffering the setback, Castle wraps his EC tenure with the single-season record in wins (16), saves (269) and save percentage (.636).
• Tufts improves to 4-0 all-time vs. Emmanuel and is now 11-0 on the year at home while EC drops to 7-4 on the road in 2023.

UP NEXT

• Tufts advances to the third round of the NCAA Division III tourney and will host the winner of York College (Pa.) vs. Cabrini University tomorrow, Sunday, May 14 at Bello Field at 3:00 PM.