FAST OR LAST T
Tufts stuck to its run-and-guns, paying off in its second NCAA title
By Jac Coyne NCAA Division II & III
Limestone & Tufts Above: Vinny Ricci, Limestone
D-III TOP 5 FOR 2015
1. Tufts
With a staggering array of weapons, the Jumbos rolled the championship. Frighteningly, most of them return next spring, including the nation’s leading scorer, John Uppgren (124 points).
2. RIT
The Tigers got rolled by Tufts in the semis, but just six seniors graduate off this year’s version. The top goal-scorers — Casey Jackson, Ryan Lee and Kyle Aquin — all return.
3. Stevenson
Fourteen of the top 16 scorers return for the Mustangs. All that’s in question is finding a faceoff man to replace Brent Hiken, but Paul Cantebene knows a thing or two about that.
4. Salisbury
The graduation of a huge senior class takes a toll on many of the experienced players, but Jim Berkman proved this year he doesn’t need superstars to keeping the machine running.
5. Cortland
With goalie Scott Tota, midfielder Matt Rakoczy and attackman Zach Hopps, the Red Dragons have the experience to give the top dogs in the North a run for their money.
— J.C.
he success of the Tufts men’s lacrosse program depends on faith — not anything in the spiritual realm, but a secular belief that the Jumbos’ wide-open, high-pressure, no- shot-is-a-bad-shot mindset will eventually pay off in a victory. It started in 1999, when Tufts hired Mike Daly, a self-proclaimed football guy, to coach lacrosse despite his limited experience with the sport. It has continued over the past 15 years, paying off in three NCAA championship game appearances and two titles, the most recent by virtue of the Jumbos’ 12-9 victory over Salisbury at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium. Daly’s offensive approach has its nuances, but the founding principle of the system borders on the simplistic. “It’s just fun to play the game that way,” said Daly, who earned his 200th win this season. “The guys love that they have the ability to make mistakes, the ability to attack and the ability to play the game with that passion and excitement, and not everyone micromanaging every step, every pass, every movement. That’s what the kids embrace the most about it.”
It worked wonders in 2014. Tufts produced three 100-point scorers this year in sophomore John Uppgren, junior Cole Bailey and senior Beau Wood while surpassing the 2007 Salisbury team for the NCAA’s all-division single- season record with 423 goals. The Jumbos’ faith has not been without its occasional tests. In 2011, the year after the first championship, Salisbury throttled Tufts 19-7 in the most lopsided game in NCAA Division III title
38 LACROSSE MAGAZINE July 2014>>
game history. Last spring, the Jumbos were mauled by RIT in the quarterfinals 14-5. Even this season, Daly’s believers suffered a 15-8 drubbing at the hands of an unranked Williams team.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
men’s ChampionS
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