York College men's lacrosse sent home from NCAA Tournament in round of 16

On a Mother's Day that saw the York College women's lacrosse team move on to the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, the Spartan men saw their season come to an end on that exact stage.

York suffered a 21-8 road loss to No. 1-ranked Tufts on Sunday in Medford, Massachusetts. The Jumbos snapped the Spartans' 10-game winning streak with the commanding victory.

Tufts improved to 20-0 with the triumph. The Jumbos led 11-3 at the half and stretched the margin to 17-4 through three quarters. They fired 32 shots on net and Spartan goalie Jack Keller could only corral 11 of them.

Senior Will Harnick scored twice for York, extending his program record to a final total of 76 goals this season. Tufts goalie Conner Garzone stopped six of eight shots on goal from Harnick, all six attempts from Ben Mayer and 15 of 21 overall. Ames Clark was the lone Spartan with both a goal and an assist.

Jack Boyden led the Jumbos with four goals, while two other Tufts players had hat tricks and four more scored twice. Up next for the hosts will be a quarterfinal clash with Lynchburg.

York College opened this season 5-5, but all of those losses came to teams ranked in the top 10 at the end of the season (three were by a single goal). The Spartans, who steamrolled through MAC Commonwealth play and won the league tournament title, had established themselves as one of those elite teams as well, as they entered the postseason ranked No. 10. They added an 18-9 win over No. 19 Cabrini on Saturday afternoon, their 10th straight, as Michael Russo scored four times while Harnick and Mayer each had a hat trick.

But York couldn't keep up with the top team in the country, and their season came to an end two rounds earlier than in their Final Four campaign of 2022.

The Spartan women's lacrosse team will battle either Salisbury or Meredith next Saturday. York College softball will learn its NCAA Tournament path Monday morning.