MEDFORD, MASS. – The nationally sixth-ranked Tufts men's lacrosse team held eighth-ranked Cortland scoreless for 39 minutes, 26 seconds while stringing together 12 consecutive goals to earn a 15-5 win Wednesday afternoon in the NCAA Div. III Quarterfinals at Bello Field. The Red Dragons, making their 13th straight national quarterfinal appearance, had their 12-game winning streak snapped and finished the season 17-4 and tied for fifth nationally. The Jumbos improved to 19-2 and will face top-ranked RIT in the national semifinals on Sunday. The Tigers defeated Union, 11-6, on Wednesday.

Five different players scored a goal for Cortland led by senior Joe Slavik (Binghamton/Seton Catholic), who registered one goal and one assist. Seniors Cody Consul (Webster/Webster Schroeder) and Tyler Chin (Hauppauge) and juniors Matt Rakoczy (Clifton Park/Albany Academy) and Benjamin Dunlavey (Elmira/Corning East) each contributed one goal. Junior Mike Cantelli (Holmdel, NJ) recorded two assists and sophomore Zach Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) added one assist.

Junior goalie Scott Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) made 15 saves for the Red Dragons. Sophomore Pat Baldwin (Alpharetta, GA) won 15-of-23 faceoffs and collected a game-high 12 ground balls, senior J.T. Foltz (Auburn) caused three turnovers and senior Stephen Burke (Yorktown) had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Beau Wood led Tufts with six points on five goals and one assist. John Uppgren tallied four goals and one assist, Cole Bailey recorded three goals and two assists, Peter Gill had two goals and one assist and Peter Bowers added one goal and one assist.

Goalie Patton Watkins turned aside 14 shots for the Jumbos. Conor Helfrich collected five ground balls, and five different players registered two caused turnovers apiece.

The Red Dragons jumped out to a 3-1 lead midway through the first quarter. Slavik set up Dunlavey's goal 33 seconds into the game, and after Uppgren tied the score at 12:57, Chin gave Cortland a 2-1 lead at 12:05 and Slavik made it a 3-1 score at 7:16. Uppgren answered with back-to-back goals to tie the game at 3-3 before Consul gave the Red Dragons the lead back for the final time just three seconds before the end of the quarter. From that point, the Jumbos took control of the game. Tufts out scored Cortland, 6-0, in the second quarter to build a 9-4 lead as Wood, Bailey and Gill each found the back of the net twice.

The Jumbos padded their advantage with a 4-0 third quarter to push their lead to 13-4. Wood scored twice and Uppgren and Bowers netted one goal apiece. Wood and Bailey scored at 14:08 and 8:49, respectively, of the fourth quarter and Tufts had its largest lead of 15-4. Rakoczy finally ended Cortland's scoring drought with his goal off a Cantelli assist at 5:37 for the 15-5 final.    

Tufts 15, Cortland 5

GAME SUMMARY:

Team               1-2-3-4 Final
Cortland (17-4)  4-0-0-1    5
Tufts (19-2)       3-6-4-2  15

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Joe Slavik 1-1, Cody Consul 1-0, Tyler Chin 1-0, Matt Rakoczy 1-0, Benjamin Dunlavey 1-0, Mike Cantelli 0-2, Zach Hopps 0-1
Tufts: Beau Wood 5-1, John Uppgren 4-1, Cole Bailey 3-2, Peter Gill 2-1, Peter Bowers 1-1, Jeff Chang 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Scott Tota, 15 saves (15 GA in 60:00)
Tufts: Patton Watkins, 14 saves (5 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Tufts 45, Cortland 41
Ground Balls: Cortland 26, Tufts 25
Turnovers: Cortland 18, Tufts 11
Caused Turnovers: Tufts 14, Cortland 7
Clears: Tufts 22-of-25, Cortland 15-of-19
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 15, Tufts 9
Penalties: Cortland 6-5:00, Tufts 3-2:00
Extra-Man Offense: Tufts 1-5, Cortland 0-3