May 31, 2010
Tufts men win NCAA championship
by PR Wire Report/
Tufts University's DJ Hessler helped lead the Jumbos to their first-ever NCAA Division 3 championship on Sunday with a 9-6 win over Salisbury. (photo: Tufts Athletics)
The Tufts University men’s lacrosse team captured the first title in school history with Sunday’s 9-6 win over Salisbury in the NCAA Division 3 championship game at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.
“I think about all the hard work we put in all year long and how it paid off,” said Tufts senior Jamie Atkins, who had a hat trick to help lead the Jumbos. “It’s incredible. I can’t describe the feeling. We worked so hard all year long.”
“It’s pretty awesome to be a part of history and Tufts’ first NCAA title," Tufts' DJ Hessler said. "It puts us on the map and shows that people need to respect us.”
Tufts (20-1) was the clear underdog against Salisbury (21-2).
The Jumbos were making their first title game appearance in just their third-ever NCAA tournament, while Salisbury has won eight national championships with 22 straight NCAA tournament appearances.
"Besides our alumni and our fans I don't think anyone thought we could win this one," Hessler told The Associated Press after the win. "It's great to show we can come out and compete on this stage. We are putting our program on the map. People have got to respect us now."
Although the experience factor was clearly on Salisbury’s side, it was Tufts that made a statement right from the start of the contest.
The Jumbos scored just 90 seconds into the game as Doug DiSesa put Tufts in front 1-0.
Salisbury answered two minutes later on a Shawn Zordani goal to make it 1-1, but Tufts took control of the game from that point on, scoring five straight goals to take a 6-1 lead after the first quarter.
D.J. Hessler (goal, four assists) made it 2-1, with Matt Witko, Ryan Molloy (from Hessler), DiSesa (from Hessler) and Atkins following suit for the Jumbos.
Tufts coach Mike Daly said the Jumbos' fast start was crucial.
“It took a lot of pressure off our guys," he said. "We were up at Cortland last weekend in a great environment against a great team and we didn’t respond too well to that (in the) early part of the game and it really put a lot of pressure on our team to battle back like we did. We are a team of runs, defensively as well as offensively, unfortunately sometimes. But we just got into one of those grooves early on and it really helped get our bench into it, get our fans into it and keep everything going in the right direction.”
Tufts added to the lead midway through the second quarter with Atkins scoring his second goal of the game for a 7-1 Jumbos lead.
Salisbury kept Tufts off the scoreboard for the rest of the half, however, while scoring three times to make it 7-4 after two quarters. Mike Winter (from Sam Bradman), Connor Burgess from Jake DeLillo and Will Poletis had Salisbury’s goals.
Salisbury made things interesting with a goal three minutes into the third quarter with DeLillo scoring on an assist from Burgess to make it 7-5. The goal marked the first time since midway through the first quarter that the Sea Gulls found themselves within two goals of Tufts.
The Jumbos would respond as Sean Kirwan picked up a loose ball in front of the Salisbury cage and fired a shot past Sea Gulls goalkeeper Johnny Rodriguez.
Neither team would score the rest of the third quarter, giving Tufts a three-goal advantage (8-5) entering the final 15 minutes of play.
Tufts took a 9-5 lead with 10:48 remaining as Hessler found Atkins in front for a point-blank shot.
Atkins said Hessler, who finished the 2010 season with 91 points, makes things happen for the Tufts offense.
“He sees everything and you just have to get open and he’ll get you the ball,” he said.
The Jumbos put the clamps on Salisbury’s offense until just 2:58 left in the game when Poletis made it 9-6.
Tufts kept Salisbury off the scoreboard the rest of the way to secure the first national championship in school history.
“First of all congratulations to Tufts," said Salisbury coach Jim Berkman, the NCAA's al-time leader in lacrosse coaching victories. "It was an outstanding effort on their part today. A lot of things that we didn’t do well weren’t a result of us not doing them well it was because of their efforts and the things that they did that we couldn’t capitalize. Coach Daly did a great job with that team. They had a great run at the end of the season and our hats (are) off to them as the 2010 national champions.”
For his efforts, Hessler was named the championship game's Most Outstanding Player.
“That’s pretty cool," he said. "I’m more excited for our team though, a lot of people were saying we couldn’t win today but we showed we can’t just be walked over.”
Tufts goalkeeper Steven Foglietta made 13 saves on 19 shots, including seven saves in the final quarter.
Salisbury entered the game with a pair of players with more than 80 points on the season, but the Tufts defense held Bradman (86 points) to one assist while Matt Cannone (84 points) was kept off the score sheet.
Salisbury, which scored 356 goals this season, went scoreless during a pair of 20-minute stretches in Sunday’s championship game.
"We got a little selfish and weren't passing the ball the way we normally do," Bradman told The Associated Press. "Their defense played an outstanding game and just shut us down."
“Fundamentals,” Atkins said of Tufts’ success on defense. “Make sure they don’t get easy looks and no mistakes.”
