SCHENECTADY, NY – No. 9 Tufts (5-1) used a 9-0 run at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half to secure a strong lead and went on to beat  Buffalo State (1-3) 16-8 on a windy Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference matchup played at Union College.

Freshman Alanna Herne (Tonawanda, NY/Tonawanda) paced the Bengals offense with two goals and two assists, while senior Sarah Lorusso (Lakeview, NY/Frontier) added a hat trick. Meghan Farrell (Endicott, NY/Union Endicott), Christina Krowel (Amsterdam, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) and Carol Ann Currado (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) each added a goal.

The Jumbos were the first to get on the board with a goal off a free position shot at 27:41 The Bengals quickly responded as Herne fired a shot past the Tufts goalkeeper less than a minute later. Tufts regained the lead at the 25-minute mark and held onto it for the rest of the game. Buffalo State kept things close, trailing by just one goal at 17:13 after a free position goal from Farrell and forcing Tufts to call a timeout and change goalkeepers. However, the Jumbos came out of the timeout looking to score and closed out the half on a 5-1 run to take a 10-6 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Tufts continued their run, adding five more goals and going up 15-5 with just over 17 minutes remaining in the game. Buffalo State added three unanswered goals to trim the Jumbos lead to seven, 15-8, but did not manage anymore goals in the final ten minutes of play.

Colleen George (Johnson City, NY/Maine-Endwell) recorded the loss in goal with nine saves.

Tufts outshot Buffalo State 30-21 and posted a 17-9 advantage in draw controls

The Bengals return to action on Sunday in Los Angeles, California for a 3 p.m. non-conference matchup at Occidental.