Sports

College Lacrosse Controversy Spoils Top-Five Upset After No-Goal Leads To Chaos In Overtime

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Tufts Christopher Newport Lacrosse Controversy Goal
Christopher Newport Athletics

Tufts defeated Christopher Newport during a top-five college lacrosse matchup on Thursday night. However, it appears as though the Captains might’ve defeated the Jumbos during a wild and controversial sequence during the final moments of overtime.

The ruling on the field is up for debate.

Tufts and Christopher Newport compete on the Division-III level of college lacrosse. No. 1 Tufts is the reigning, undefeated national champion. No. 5 Christopher Newport was also undefeated prior to the fallacious result in Virginia on Thursday. The Captains should’ve stayed undefeated. The Jumbos should’ve lost their first game of the season.

Both teams scored 16 goals during regulation. Newport jumped out to an 8-2 lead during the first quarter but Tufts battled back to force overtime with four goals in the fourth quarter.

That brings us to the contentious finish.

The Captains appeared to score the game-winner with two minutes remaining during the extra period. Brett Jackson seemingly went bar-down to secure the upset win. Or did he?!

For some unknown reason, officials did not count the goal and allowed the game to continue. The Jumbos took the ball back the other way. They scored the actual game-winning goal just 12 seconds later.

Tufts had a 6-on-4 advantage on offense because Christopher Newport was still celebrating Jackson’s goal and did not get back on defense amid the confusion. The two-man advantage led to an erroneous win for the visitors. Officials confirmed the result after a review. Game over!

Let’s take a closer look. LSG Visuals captured a much better angle of Jackson’s shot and the subsequent possession. There is no way to argue that Newport did not hit the pipe. The question is whether the entire ball crossed the imaginary plane of the goal line or touched any portion of the net.

Take another look:

Was it the correct call? That is for you to decide. Either way, the D-III college lacrosse result is final. Top-ranked Tufts stayed undefeated with a controversial win over fifth-ranked Christopher Newport in overtime. On to the next.