Tufts holds off St. Thomas 2-1 in the early men's semifinal

Cover photo credit: Dave Hilbert, d3photography.com

In Saturday's first of the Final Four matches at Salem, Tufts University defeated St. Thomas University 2-1 to advance to the NCAA Title match for the second time in three years.

Tufts junior Stephen McMillian put his team up 1-0 with a goal in the first half. Dave Hilbert, d3photography.com

In a game of swinging momentum, it was the more experienced Jumbos team that got on the board first in the 38th minute on a long shot by junior Stephen McMillian that went in off the crossbar. The goal was the first this season for the junior.

The shot was taken from over 35 yards out, surprising the Tommies defense. And it came from an area of the field that the Tufts side had been controlling for most of the first half.

St. Thomas had a great opportunity just minutes into the second half, when junior Christian Elliehausen hit the post on a hard shot after some initial preasure on the the Tufts stingy defense. But the Tommies push was short lived as Tufts owned the next 10 minutes of play, contolling the midfield and not allowing the Tommies push upfield.

Capitalizing on the momentum, Tufts senior Zach Halliday put his team up 2-0 in the 61st minute. Junior Kevin Halliday assisted his bother on the goal.

St. Thomas senior Johnny Mulvahill attempts to score on a stingy Tufts defense. Dave Hilbert, d3photography.com

As the clock ticked down under 25 minutes to play, St. Thomas finally broke through with some sustained preasure on Tufts, and with 18:22 to play, senior Johnny Mulvahill scored off a corner kick by junior Alex Schnobrich to get the Tommies back in the game.  It was the first goal allowed by Tufts in the NCAA Tournament. In the ensuing 10 minutes, the Tommies continued to press, opening up a number of opportunities, both off throw-ins and passes into the box.

The Tommies best opportunity came with 3:40 to play, when Tommie junior Pierce Erickson redirected a feed from senior Tony Kuplic in the box. Erickson's shot beat Tufts keeper senior Scott Greenwood but Erickson’s shot went just wide.

Tufts had 12 shots with 10 on goal, seven corner kicks, and eight fouls. Goal keeper Scott Greenwood had five saves. St. Thomas had 13 shots with six on goal, seven corners, and 11 fouls. Sophomore keeper Aiden Hogan had eight saves.

St. Thomas ends their successful season at 20-2-3, while Tufts improves to 14-5-2 and moves on to face the winner of the Brandeis/Calvin match on Saturday.