Medford, Mass. – The Trinity College men's lacrosse team fell to No. 1 Tufts, 13-6, on Saturday in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action at Bello Field. With the loss, the Bantams move to 2-5 on the year and 0-4 in league play, while the top-ranked Jumbos improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in conference tilts.

Trinity played Tufts tough in the opening half, trailing 7-4 at halftime. In the third and fourth quarters, the Jumbos pulled away with three goals in each stanza while allowing just one to the Bantams. The visitors took an early 1-0 lead as senior co-captain Matthew Hauck (Ridgewood, N.J.) scored the first of three goals on the afternoon just under three minutes into play. A little over midway through the first, Tufts netted back-to-back goals a minute and a half apart to take a 2-1 edge. Late in the opening quarter, Hauck scored off a feed from junior Ryan DeSimone (Saint James, N.Y.) to knot the contest at two. Thirty seconds after Hauck's marker, Kyle Howard-Johnson scored his second of seven goals on the day to give the hosts a lead they would not surrender.

The Jumbos opened the second frame with three straight tallies capped by a Howard-Johnson goal to hold a 6-2 advantage. Trinity pulled back within two as junior Michael McQuiston (Greenwich, Conn.) and first-year Jack Sharrio (Marblehead, Mass.) found the back of the net. Howard-Johnson closed out the scoring in the opening half with a marker off a feed from Peter Gill as Tufts held a 7-4 lead after 30 minutes of play.

After the teams traded goals to start the third for an 8-5 score, Howard-Johnson tallied three in a row at 4:32 and 00:48 of the third and at 14:04 of the fourth giving the hosts an 11-5 advantage. First-year Charlie Malhame (Manhasset, N.Y.) stopped the run for Trinity at 13:05, but Tufts junior John Uppgren assisted by Howard-Johnson and Jumbo sophomore Austin Carbone netted the only goals over the remainder of the game.

Offensively, Hauck paced the Trinity attack with three goals and an assist. Sharrio had his first collegiate multi-point contest with a goal and an assist, while DeSimone registered two assists. On the defensive side of the ball, five different Bantams caused one turnover apiece. Senior goalie Mickey Zaverucha (Duxbury, Mass.) and sophomore defenseman Aidan Keohane (Westwood, Mass.) each scooped four groundballs for Trinity. In the face-off circle, first-year JP Masaryk (Stratford, Conn.) went 10-of-22 with five groundballs.

The goaltending at both ends was excellent. Zaverucha made an incredible 26 saves, including eight in the fourth quarter, in a losing effort for the Bantams. On the opposite end, Tufts junior Alex Salazar turned aside 13 shots.

Tufts finished with a 56-32 advantage in shots and won the groundball battle 44-24. Neither team capitalized in man-up situations, as the Jumbos were able to keep the Bantams off the scoreboard in five extra-man opportunities.

Trinity returns to action on Wednesday, Mar. 25, with a home non-conference clash versus Roger Williams at 4:00 p.m. on Jessee/Miller Field.