Men's Lacrosse Drops Third-Straight NESCAC Game
April 23, 2005

Matt Erisman '07

MEDFORD, Mass. – Tufts' senior tri-captain Bryan Griffin (West Islip, NY) scored four goals with five assists for nine points as the 13th ranked Tufts men’s lacrosse team built a big lead and sailed to a 16-9 victory over No. 20 Bates College in a NESCAC game at Bello Field on Saturday afternoon.

The victory puts Tufts (8-3) in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference with Bates and Amherst. The top four in the standings will host first-round conference tournament games on May 1. All three teams have 4-3 NESCAC records with two games to play, but Tufts beat both Amherst and Bates.

Tufts held leads of 4-0 at the end of the first quarter, 9-2 at the half and 13-3 after three quarters. Their lead was 16-5 in the fourth quarter before Bates scored four goals in the final seven and a half minutes.

Griffin, rounding back into form after missing time with a knee injury, scored all of his nine points in the first three quarters. Sophomore Mark Warner (Wading River, NY) added a goal and four assists to the Tufts attack, which with 16 goals had its best output in a NESCAC game since a 17-5 victory at Trinity last April 3. Junior Michael Hughes (Branford, CT) scored three goals against Bates.

Bates (8-3) was led by three goals from sophomore Matt Erisman (Nantucket, MA) and two apiece by Justin Simon (Canaan, NH) and Dan Ross (Silver Spring, MD).

Senior Andy Starr (Weston, MA), one of six Jumbo seniors playing in their last regular-season game on campus, started and made 14 saves for the victory in goal. Paul Kazarian (Providence, RI) started for Bates and finished with eight saves.