OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Second-ranked Tufts used a four-goal flurry in the third quarter to build a 13-8 lead then held No. 8 Stevenson at arm's length the rest of the way to remain unbeaten with a 16-13 non-conference lacrosse victory at Mustang Stadium Tuesday night.

Tufts (6-0) clung to a one-goal lead with 10:22 remaining in the third quarter following a man-up goal by junior Kyle Karsian that made it 9-8.  The Jumbos proceeded to score four goals in a span of just under three minutes to take a 13-8 lead.  Lucas Johnson scored at the 9:15 mark, then 12 seconds later, Michael Mattson made it 11-8.  Danny Murphy scored at 8:39, then a man-up goal by John Cordery pushed the lead to five.

Stevenson (3-3), which was facing its third top-12 opponent in five days, pulled within 13-10 by the end of the third quarter.  Senior Wade Korvin scored at the 4:44 mark to make it 13-9, then another Karsian man-up tally 36 seconds later cut the lead to three.

Tufts pushed the lead to 14-10 3:45 into the fourth on a Mattson goal.  Three times in the final period, Stevenson cut the lead to three, but each of the first two times, the Jumbos answered back.  Junior Brandon Watson scored at the 9:36 mark to make it 14-11, before Tufts' Zach Richman scored at 6:42 to push the lead back to four.

Sophomore JT Thelen cut it again to three with 5:29 left, but on the ensuing faceoff, Stevenson was assessed a two-minute penalty.  The Mustangs held the ball coming out of the penalty but couldn't score, and Richman all but put the game away with 2:10 left when he made it 16-12.  Thelen scored Stevenson's third man-up goal of the game with 1:28 left to account for the final.

The Jumbos raced out to a 5-2 lead just over eight minutes into the game following a Murphy goal.  Thelen cut the lead to 5-3 with 12 seconds left before the quarter break, then goals by senior Kyle D'Onofrio at 14:35 and Thelen at 12:45 tied the game 5-5.  Freshman Ethan Christensen scored at the 9:39 mark to give Stevenson a 6-5 lead.

Murphy tied the game for Tufts at the 8:09 mark, but a Watson goal 5:06 before intermission gave Stevenson its last lead, 7-6.  After tying the game with 2:18 remaining, the Jumbos took an 8-7 lead 29 seconds before intermission on a Richman tally.

Thelen paced the Mustangs with five goals and an assist, while Christensen, Watson and Karsian each scored twice.  Richman had a team-high five goals for Tufts.

Ben Shmerler played the first half in goal for the guests and made five saves before giving way to Robert Treiber, who recorded seven stops.  Stevenson counterpart, senior  Ross Dinan, recorded 12 saves as Tufts outshot the Mustangs 54-51.  The Jumbos won 18-of-33 faceoffs, with each team picking up 44 ground balls.  Stevenson was 3-8 in man-up situations on the night while limiting Tufts to 1-6 with the extra man.  Stevenson had 24 turnovers while the guests had 20 giveaways.

Junior Dominic DeFazio led Stevenson with seven ground balls and also had a team-high three caused turnovers.  Classmate Dylan Harris picked up six ground balls and caused a pair of Tufts giveaways, while senior Drew Cormode also had two caused turnovers and notched four ground balls.

Stevenson returns to action next Tuesday night (March 28) when it opens MAC Commonwealth play at home against Lebanon Valley College, in a game originally scheduled for Wednesday, March 29.  Faceoff at Mustang Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 pm.