MEN'S COLLEGE
HOCKEY FINAL SCORE
Tufts 8, Wesleyan (CT) 5
At Malden, MA
Friday, February 5, 2010
Game
Box Score
MALDEN -- Junior Zach Diaco (Rumson, NJ) scored
a hat trick, including two empty-net goals in the middle of the
third period, and junior tri-captain Dylan Cooper (Colorado
Springs, CO) added two goals with an assist as the Tufts
University hockey team skated to an 8-5 victory against Wesleyan
University in a NESCAC game on Friday night at Valley Forum II.
Tufts took a big step towards locking up a conference tournament
berth with the win, which lifted the Jumbos to 9-7-3 overall and
5-6-3 in the league. They are unbeaten in their last three games.
Wesleyan, which has lost six of its last seven games, remained in
the NESCAC cellar with a 3-11 conference mark and a 6-12 record
overall.
The Jumbos darted to a 3-0 lead in the first. Junior
Lindsay Walker (Castlegar, BC) scored a
short-handed goal at 2:30 and Cooper scored both of his goals at
8:38 and at 12:49, with the latter coming on a power play. Freshman
Dylan Plimmer (Phoenix, AZ) assisted on both of
Cooper's scores.
Wesleyan cut the gap to 3-1 on Sam Robinson's (Winchester, MA)
goal, his fourth of the year, at 3:29 of the second period.
However, a Wesleyan penalty late in the period helped Tufts regain
a three-goal cushion when junior Tom Derosa (Charlestown,
MA) scored on a power play at 17:25 of the second.
That led into a bizarre third period during which eight goals
were scored. Diaco had all three of his goals in the third, with
the first coming just 55 seconds into the period to put Tufts up
5-1. Shortly after that, Wesleyan began intermittently pulling its
goalie for the remainder of the period. Diaco scored empty-net
goals at 6:01 and 11:46 of the third, giving him 12 goals for the
year. Plimmer added a third empty-net goal for the Jumbos at 14:18.
Sandwiched around a Wesleyan goal by David Layne (Flourtown, PA) at
11:12, the Jumbos had an 8-2 lead. In all, Wesleyan would play 8:30
of third-period action without a goalie in net.
The Cardinals finished strong, thanks in part to a major Tufts
penalty. After Jeff Beck's (Warrington, PA) first goal of the
season at 15:27 made it 8-3, sophomore A.J. Ferraro (New
Canaan, CT) scored a pair of goals at 18:12 and 19:25 during the
five-minute power play to finish the scoring at 8-5. Wesleyan owned
a 20-7 advantage in shots for the third period.
The game featured 11 players who scored multiple points. Joining
Diaco and Cooper as Jumbos with multiple points were Plimmer and
Derosa with a goal and two assists each, Walker with a goal and an
assist, and freshman defenseman Trevor John (Grosse Pointe,
MI) and junior forward Mike Vitale (Brookfield,
IL) both with two assists. Sophomore Scott Barchard (Reading, MA) made 42 saves in goal as the
Cardinals finished with a 47-34 shooting advantage overall.
Along with Ferraro's two goals, co-captains Layne and Robinson
finished with a goal and an assist each for Wes. Senior Woody
Redpath (Norwich, VT) had two assists. Starting goalie Tim
Archibald (Wellesley, MA) made 25 saves in 42 minutes of
action.
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