MEDFORD, Mass. - The Tufts University men's lacrosse team used a big second and third quarter to pull away from Bowdoin, 20-10, in a battle of nationally-ranked teams on Wednesday night.

The fifth-ranked Jumbos improve to 13-2 (9-1 NESCAC) and clinch the top seed for the upcoming NESCAC Tournament. The 13th-ranked Polar Bears dip to 11-4 (7-3 NESCAC) and will be the third seed for the conference tourney.

Game Highlights

• Bowdoin more than held their own in the opening quarter on Wednesday, getting a pair of goals from Shawn Daly late in the first frame to take a 4-3 lead after 15 minutes
• The Polar Bears held that advantage until midway through the second quarter when Kyle Howard-Johnson sparked a five-goal surge for the hosts in a span of 5:12, which gave Tufts a 8-4 lead
• Bowdoin got a late goal from Matthew Crowell to trim the lead to 8-5 at the break
• Tufts squelched all thoughts of a Bowdoin rally in the third quarter, however, scoring seven times to increase their lead to 15-7, despite goals from Clayton Wright and Peter Reuter
• The Jumbos also outscored Bowdoin 5-3 in the fourth quarter to round out the contest

By The Numbers

• John Uppgren led all players with six goals and four assists for Tufts
• Matthew Crowell and Shawn Daly each had two goals and two assists in the loss for Bowdoin
• Peter Mumford made 13 saves for Bowdoin in 57:51 while John Young stopped four in 2:09
• Parker Sessions had three ground balls and two caused turnovers defensively for Bowdoin

Up Next

• Third-seeded Bowdoin will host sixth-seeded Wesleyan at 1:00 p.m. Saturday in a quarterfinal game on the grass at Pickard Field. It will be a rematch of a contest played two weeks ago in Middletown, won by the Cardinals 12-11 in overtime
• Top-seeded Tufts draws eighth-seeded Conn. College in the opening round at 1:00 p.m. Saturday