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Brian Oulette set up the goal which tied the game 1-1
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WATERVILLE, ME - Senior co-captains Cory McGrath (Yarmouthport, MA) and Scott Harff (Watertown, NY) made sure the Colby College men's hockey team would play again this year after playing major roles in the Mules' 6-2 win over Tufts University in NESCAC play Saturday at Alfond Rink.
Colby earns the seventh seed in the NESCAC playoffs and will play a quarterfinal game next Saturday at Williams College. The league pairings will not be officially released until Monday when a make-up game between Bowdoin College and Trinity College is finished. The Mules improve to 7-14-3 overall and 5-11-2 in the league after a weekend sweep of the Jumbos and Connecticut College.
McGrath and Harff, playing their final home games with four other Colby seniors, each had one goal and one assist. McGrath had the opening goal of the game for the Mules and Harff ended up with the game-winning tally.
McGrath's goal came after a wild 1:26 of action where the Mules hit the post three times and there was a rare fight. Ben Chwick (Purchase, NY) and Chris Kennedy (Sherborn, MA) rattled shots off the post within 20 seconds of each other. Just 13 seconds after Kennedy's shot, the game was delayed for a few minutes after the fight. At 15:57 of the first period, Harff took a pass from Nick Lanza (Rocky Hill, CT) and blasted a shot off the post. This time, the Mules caught a break when the puck went directly to McGrath in front for the score.
Tufts, whose season ended with records of 7-15-2 overall and 2-14-2 in NESCAC, tied the game at 1-1 at 17:02 of the first on the power play. Brian Oullette (Arlington, MA) had a centering pass that was battled for in front of the net, with Kyle Gallegos (Westminster, CO) poking the puck in the net while positioned near the right post for his 11th goal.
Colby went up 2-1 after one period on Brendan Cosgrove's (Exeter, NH) third goal of the year from Chwick and Kennedy on the power play. Cosgrove was falling to the ice when he reached out with his stick and swiped the puck low and into the back of the net at 18:04.
The Jumbos scored their second power play goal to tie the game at 2-2 just 2:51 into the second period. Stewart Bell's (Marietta, GA) shot was saved by Colby goaltender Sam Parker (Cambridge, MA), but the long rebound went to a charging Blake Edwards (Columbus, OH) for the score. Dylan Plimmer (Phoenix, AZ) also had an assist on the play.
Harff put the Mules up for good at 3-2 with another power play goal at 4:56 of the second period. His hard shot from the right point came from the 15th assist of the season for both Lanza and McGrath.
The Mules scored their fourth goal just 39 seconds after Tufts made a goalie change. Jack Bartlett's (Lynn, MA) pass seemed to get deflected and went right to Robert McCormick (Laconia, NH), who hit a low backhand for the goal at 6:57.
Bartlett picked up his second assist of the day at 13:13 when he found Matt Gelnaw for a one-timer in front of the net for a 5-2 margin. Nils Martin (Potomac, MD) added his first goal of the season at 13:44 of the third period to close out the scoring. Chwick had his team-best 16th assist and Cosgrove also assisted.
Parker was solid in goal for Colby, making 22 saves in about 54 minutes of action in improving to 6-3 on the season. Matt Delaney (Houston, TX) played the final 6:16 for Colby. Derek Metcalfe (Stoneham, MA) and Brian Phillips (Colleyville, TX) both had 12 saves for the Jumbos.
Game Box Score
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Game recap courtesy of Colby College
