Part of recap courtesy of Wesleyan University
MIDDLETOWN, CT - Inaugurating his Wesleyan career in a remarkable fashion by scoring two goals and adding three assists, Elliott Vorel was the key to the Cardinals' 5-4 victory over Tufts on the opening day of the 2013-14 hockey season Friday.
The triumph ended a two-year winless streak against the Jumbos as the Cardinals were 0-3-1 against Tufts over the last two campaigns. The only other NESCAC team the Cardinals had failed to beat over the previous two seasons was Amherst.
Vorel put home the game-winner with just :04 left in the third period, sliding the puck into an open right-hand side after a flurry in front of the Tufts net. Keith Buehler and Tommy Hartnett were peppering the goal with initial shots and earned assists on the play. For Buehler, it was his third point of the game on a goal and two helpers.
Junior defenseman Blake Edwards had a goal and an assist for Tufts (0-1). Sophomore D Brian Oullette finished with two assists.
The back-and-forth game started with goals by Wesleyan's Terence Durkin and Tufts' George Pantazopoulos in the first period. After Wesleyan took a 2-1 edge just 12 seconds into the middle stanza on Keith Buehler's goal, the Jumbos surged to the lead on goals by Edwards at 3:52 and by James Randaccio at 7:35.
Wesleyan trailed just this once in the game before Vorel's first goal of the game with 1:13 to go in the second evened the count at 3-3.
Midway through the final frame, Wesleyan regained the lead on a power-play marker by Hartnett, assisted by Buehler and Vorel. Tufts evened the score at 4-4 with 7:04 to play on an unassisted goal by Aidan Hartigan, Tufts' third goal of the game by a defenseman.
In the Cardinal net, Nolan Daley made 24 saves, 11 of them in the middle stanza. Wesleyan outshot Tufts in both the first and third periods and held a 33-28 edge at game's end. Ryan Kellenberger stopped 28 shots in the Tufts net in his collegiate debut, with 10 in the third period.
Ahead for the Cardinals is a meeting with Conn. College at home Saturday. The Jumbos move over to Trinity for a Saturday encounter at 4 pm.
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