Men’s Lacrosse
Tufts’ 19-13 win of Washington and Lee University on May 19 secured its place in the NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse tournament final for the second year in a row.
The Jumbos (17-3) traveled to Salisbury University for the semifinal game and were led in scoring by Charlie Tagliaferri, Brooks Hauser, Garrett Kelly, and Will Emsing, whose hat tricks alone almost outscored their opponents. First-year Emsing scored on all three of his shots on goal. Tufts out-shot the Generals 62-45 and snagged 45 groundballs to W&L’s 34.
Tufts will make its seventh trip to the national championship game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on May 26, looking for its fourth NCAA title and first since 2015. The Jumbos are slated to take on No. 2 Rochester Institute of Technology at 1 p.m. and can be streamed live via the NCAA website.
Women’s Lacrosse
The No. 4 Jumbos made their fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse tournament quarterfinals on May 19, but ultimately fell in double-overtime to host No. 3 Franklin & Marshall College, 11-10.
Tufts (16-4) maintained the lead throughout the game, up 9-4 early in the third quarter, but the Diplomats surged in the second half, scoring six goals to Tufts’ one, sending it into overtime.
Senior Emma Joyce tallied four goals on eight shots for the Jumbos in the tight match, where Tufts notched one less shot on goal than F&M (33-32), besting their opponent in ground balls with 21 to the Diplomat’s 12. Junior Pascale de Buren made a career-high 13 saves.
The Jumbos advanced to the quarterfinal game after a resounding 22-13 victory over Denison University on May 18, in the third round of the NCAA tournament.
Softball
Two of the most successful programs in NCAA Division III softball history will meet in a tournament Super Regional this week as No. 17 Tufts travels to No. 5 Salisbury University for games May 23-24.
The Jumbo softball team celebrates victory. Photo: Michael Last
The Jumbos (36-8) secured the championship berth after twice defeating the University of Rochester (15-1, 3-2) on May 18, earning the regional title.
Six Jumbos scored a pair of runs each in the first game of the day, including sophom*ore Kaitlyn Perucci who had four RBIs in the outing. Rochester put up a fight in the second game, though, scoring first and leading 2-1 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but Tufts’ Keriann Slayton hit a two-run single to help seal the win for Tufts.
Entering the 2024 NCAA tournament, Tufts had the eighth-most victories in tournament history and their 4-1 record at the Regional improved the Jumbos to a 79-38 overall record (.675 winning percentage) in NCAA tournament play. The Jumbos are the only team in Division III history to win three consecutive national championships (2013-15).
Men’s Tennis
For the third straight season, the Tufts University men’s tennis program qualified for the NCAA championships final site, as the Jumbos moved into the NCAA Division III men’s tennis tournament quarterfinals with a sound 5-1 win over Swarthmore College on May 19.
Tufts would come out of doubles’ action with a 2-1 lead, thanks to victories at the No. 2 position by Derin Acaroglu and Lachie Macintosh and in the No. 3 spot by Corey Marley and Sacha Maes. The Jumbos would then pick up wins in the first three singles matches to secure the victory. Macintosh, Vuk Vuksanovic, and the clinching win by Javier Gonzalez led Tufts.
The Jumbos will play No. 1 ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on May 21 in the national quarterfinals at the Dwight Davis Memorial Tennis Center in St. Louis.
Women’s Rowing
The No. 1 Tufts University women’s rowing teamwon the program’s first New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship on May 12 at Lake Quinsigamond. The Jumbos also took home the Points Trophy title for the 2024 National Invitational Rowing Championships.
The championship-winning first varsity boat (6:52.089) featured coxswain Hannah Jiang, Rose Tinkjian, Janna Moore, Shira Roberts, Emma Mahoney, Summer Maxwell, Samara Haynes, Karen Dooley, and Emma Lyle. The victory earns Tufts an NCAA Division III championship berth May 31-June 2 in Bethel, Ohio.
Additional Jumbo news:
- For the third year in a row, the men’s rowing team earned an at-large berth into the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Division III National Championship Regatta from May 31-June 1 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey.
- The coed and women’s sailing teams received at-large selections into the 2024 Intercollegiate Sailing Association Fleet Race National Championships, which will be held on the Charles River. The women’s event will run May 20-23 and the open regatta will run May 24-27.
- Zoe Kava, a senior on the women’s tennis team, was selected as a participant for the 2024 NCAA Division III Individual Championships May 25-27 at Washinton University in St. Louis.
- The men’s track and field team earned five entries into this week’s NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, scheduled May 23-25 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Senior Luke Botsford will run in a trio of events (200m dash, 400m dash, 4x400m relay). Botsford will anchor the 4x400m relay, running after teammates graduate student Alex Lemieux, first-year Neil Chowdhury, and junior Noah Turner. Lemieux will also take part in the long jump, and the final competitor for the Jumbos will be senior Carter Rosewell in the decathlon.
- No. 15 pole vaulter Sarah Firth, a junior on the women’s track and field team, will return to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship May 23-25 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She placed eighth in the 2022 meet.
- Themen’s golf team placed 34th out of 43 teams at the NCAA Division III championships at Legacy Golf Course in Nevada on May 15.
