MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Wesleyan scored an improbable goal with four
seconds left to lift them to a 10-9 win over Tufts and a trip to the
NESCAC Championship game. The Cardinals will take on the host school
from Middlebury, a 7-2 winner over Amherst, in the title game at noon on
Sunday.
Tufts came out strong, using four different goals scorers to
take a 5-1 lead into the halftime break. The teams exchanged the first
four goals of the third quarter, leaving Tufts with a 7-3 lead with 8:24
remaining in the third quarter. Wesleyan then scored a pair in 1:45 to
cut the lead to 7-5 with 4:15 left in the third. Chris Meade scored the
first with a nice dish from Jordan Funt, while Ian Applegate found the
back of the net for the second tally. Michael Hughes answered with a
man-up goal for Tufts, before Applegate scored against to close the
quarter with just eight seconds remaining. Tufts increased its lead to
9-6 early in the fourth quarter as Drew Innis scored with a feed from
Bryan Griffin. That would be the Jumbos final goal of the game as
Wesleyan possessed the ball for much of the quarter. Funt cut the lead
to two, before Mike Vitulano scored a pair in eight seconds to tie the
game at nine with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter. Wesleyan kept up the
pressure, with Tufts goalkeeper Luke Chicco making two nice saves at the
two minute mark on back-to-back shots from the Cardinals. Chicco made
another save on a bounce shot from Applegate with 15 seconds remaining,
and then tracked down the ground ball 15 feet in front of the goal
crease. He quickly flung the ball up-field where it was intercepted by
Glenn Adams 15 feet from midfield. Adams quickly fired the ball at the
Tufts goal and scored on the empty net for the game-winner with four
seconds remaining.
Applegate led Wesleyan scorers with three goals, while Funt
added a goal and four assists. Clark scored a pair to pace the Jumbos.
Chicco ended the day with 11 saves, while Matt Wheeler made nine for
Wesleyan.
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