Contact: Ben Badua

MEDFORD, Mass. - Despite a seven-goal effort from sophomore Devin Acton (Sudbury, Mass.), the Amherst men's lacrosse team closed out its 2012 season with a 14-10 loss to top-seeded Tufts University in a NESCAC Quarterfinal game on Bello Field.

Falling at Tufts for the second time in as many weeks, the Jeffs finished the year with a 9-7 (5-5 NESCAC) mark, while the Jumbos advanced to a semifinal showdown with fourth-seeded Conn. College after improving to 14-2 (9-1 NESCAC) on the season.

Scoring seven goals on 11 shots, while tying for the team lead in ground balls (4), Acton paced a Jeff offense that saw seven different players record a point. Alex Fox '12 (Garden City, N.Y.) and Aaron Mathias '14 (Ridgefield, Conn.) added a goal and an assist apiece, while Evan Redwood '12 (Lutherville, Md.) accounted for the Jeffs' only other goal. 

Sean Kirwan '12, Beau Wood '14 and Kevin McCormick '12 paced a balanced Jumbo attack with three goals each, while Geordie Schafer '12 and Nick Rhoads '12 combined for three goals on just three shots.

As a team, Tufts held a 34-28 edge in ground balls, while going 16-for-21 on clears and winning 18-of-24 faceoffs. The Jumbos' Patton Watkins '14 made 12 saves to improve to 13-2, while senior counterpart Samuel Jakimo '12 (Woodbury, N.Y.) finished with five stops.

Getting off to a fast start, Tufts found the back of the Amherst net early and often, taking a 4-0 lead after consecutive Schafer goals in the last 6:49 of the opening period. Kirwan extended the Jumbo lead to five, scoring just 54 seconds into the second quarter, before Redwood put the Jeffs on the board with a man-up goal at 10:15.

Looking to build on the momentum, Acton buried back-to-back scores over just a 50 second span before adding two more tallies in the next 2:49 to suddenly pull Amherst even. Hoping to respond just before the end of the half, McCormick beat the clock, netting his 34th of the year with just 0.6 seconds left in the frame to give the home team a 6-5 edge entering the intermission.

Hoping to spark another Amherst rally, Fox beat Watkins just 1:09 into the third quarter to tie things up at 6-6, but two-straight Wood and Rhoads goals just six seconds apart put the Jumbos back up two. Trying to keep pace, Acton answered with consecutive scores to once again get the visitors level, but a pair of Tufts tallies in the final 6:04 staked the home team to a 10-8 lead entering the final period.

Acton got the Jeffs off to a good start in the final 15, putting away his seventh goal less than five minutes into the quarter, but an unassisted Bailey tally at 10:34 coupled with a pair of Kirwan goals in just 27 seconds gave Tufts a four-goal advantage it would not relinquish.

Playing in their final game in Purple and White, the Class of 2012 graduates as arguably the most successful class in program history after compiling a 37-25 overall record and earning the school's first-ever NCAA berth en route to a program record 15 wins in 2011.