By Jenna Whelan '22

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's lacrosse team suffered a loss to No. 3 Tufts on Saturday afternoon at Silfen Field by a score of 24-16 despite getting four goals apiece from sophomore Jared Rainville (Watertown, Conn) and junior Nick Farnham (Falmouth, Maine). 
 
The energy was high on Silfen Field for Conn's first NESCAC East competition of the season. The high-scoring game began with three unanswered goals in the first three minutes from Tufts, but after a pass from Rainville, junior Justin Boes (Marblehead, Mass) buried one to put the Camels on the board with 11:24 to go in the first quarter. Tufts did not slow down and finished the quarter with a 7-2 lead over the home team.
 
In the first five seconds of the second quarter, senior Toby Almeida (Cumberland, R.I.) quickly collected the ball off the faceoff and netted his goal for the day. Almeida finished the game with 26 faceoff wins out of 39 attempts and picked up 18 groundballs.
 
The Jumbos never let go of their lead, but the Camels offense continued to fight back with four goals apiece from Rainville and Farnham, and two tallies from sophomore Joey Bradley (Ridgefield, Conn). Defensively, the Camels were led by sophomore Jack Venturelli (Duxbury, Mass) and senior Zach Gustafson (Sherborn, Mass), who both applied pressure to the Tufts offense and scooped up four groundballs each while combining for three caused turnovers.
 
Tufts (2-0, NESCAC East 2-0) was paced by 11 different scorers, including Mac Bredahl, who had five goals, and Cam Kelleher, who finished with four. Camel goalkeepers Billy Dreyer (Columbia, S.C.)  and Will Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y) finished the day with five and six saves, respectively. Tufts goalkeepers Joe Theuer, Cody Wiebe, and Connor Garzone combined for 22 saves to help the Jumbos to their victory.
 
The Camels (2-2, NESCAC East 0-1) continue NESCAC East competition next Saturday, as they travel up to Maine to take on Colby.