Sports of all Sorts: Former Greeley star Matt Witko Takes a Shot at a National Title

It was a bold sentiment for sure.

Prior to the start of this season, his junior year on the men's lacrosse team at Tufts University, former Horace Greeley standout Matt Witko said his goal was to win a national championship this spring. It was a goal he shared with his teammates.

That goal may have come as a surprise to some, considering the Jumbos went a nondescript 6-3 last year in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, finishing with an overall record of 13-5.

But on Sunday, May 30 at noon, Tufts will have a chance to realize that lofty preseason goal. The Jumbos will be facing Salisbury. The game will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports.

"We fill out goal sheets before the year starts, and on the top of everyone in the locker room's sheet is,  'Win a national championship,'" Witko, a midfielder, said. "That was our goal this year, and frankly, it is our goal every year. Despite all this, there is always a difference between talking the talk walking the walk. We're still playing now, so we've put ourselves in the position to accomplish that goal. We just have to get one more win, which is something that we have been saying all year. Just get one more win, we've done it 19 times now, but all we need is one more."

Tufts (19-1), which has made just two previous NCAA tournament appearances in its history, won the NESCAC title for the first time this season. The Jumbos advanced to their first-ever national title game by battling from behind to beat defending national champion Cortland State 10-9 in the semifinals after defeating Middlebury 11-9 in the quarterfinals. The Jumbos trailed Cortland State 7-3 in the third quarter before enjoying a late rally.

"Cortland State is a very formidable opponent," said Witko, who has started all 20 games and is the Jumbos' fourth-leading scorer with 35 goals and 42 points. "They play a similar style to us and certainly have a lot of experience playing in these big games. But we expect to win every game we play in. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We were definitely going to get their 'A' game, but we felt that as long as we dictated the tempo of the game and played our style, we were going to win. We got ourselves into a little bit of a hole to start the game, but our resiliency and confidence earned us the win by focusing on scoring just the next goal, not worrying about how many we were down by."

Witko said confidence has been a big factor in the Jumbos' historic run.

"Our success can be attributed to the fact that we are a very confident team," he said. "We play an up-tempo style and this puts a lot of pressure on our defense, but we always know when things aren't going our way, we will be able to bounce back. We've been through a lot of adversity this season in terms of having to claw our way back from deficits, but it is our confidence, better yet, swagger, that has given us the success we have. We expect to win every game and every member of the team is willing to do anything in order to do so."

The Division III national title game is being played in a doubleheader at M&T Bank Stadium with the Division II championship game between defending national champion C.W. Post and Le Moyne. The Division I semifinals (featuring Notre Dame vs. Cornell and Virginia vs. Duke) will be played Saturday, May 29 at M&T Bank Stadium, with the final on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31.

Being a part of the most special weekend of the college lacrosse season promises to be yet another highlight in what has already been an unforgettable season for Witko and his teammates.

"It really has been a great experience so far," Witko said. "It feels great to help this program get to where it is at now and start to accomplish the things that we knew we could all along. But, at the same time, the season isn't over yet, and we know that we haven't crossed off that 'Win a national championship' goal yet."