Box Score Recap courtesy of Castleton University.
RUTLAND, Vt. – The Western New England men's hockey team used big performances from multiple players to propel itself to a 3-1 win over Tufts in the 2016 Rutland Herald Invitational Championship at Spartan Arena.
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| Freshman Ross DeLaBreure scored his first collegiate goal tonight |
The Golden Bears move to 4-4-1 on the season, while Tufts suffers its first loss of 2016-17, moving to 4-1-0.
Kevin Gollmer played his way to Tournament MVP honors, following up a 33-save shutout on Friday with a 35-save performance on Saturday night to claim his fourth victory of the season.
David Kleyman's three-point night also landed him a spot on the All-Tournament Team, as he had a goal and two assists. Josh Twietmeyer netted the game-winning goal in the first period for WNE, while Matt Smethurst tallied an insurance goal in the second period.
Tufts' Ross DeLabreure tallied his team's only goal, scoring a power-play goal, the first of his career, in the first period. Nik Nugnes made 17 saves in the loss, his first of the season.
The two sides played back-and-forth hockey for the opening 10 minutes of the game, but with 9:17 seconds to play in the first frame Kleyman picked off a pass and skated in one-on-one with Nugnes, beating the netminder to give his team the early 1-0 lead.
After a high-sticking penalty against the Golden Bears, Tufts' power-play unit went to work. After a long possession deep in the WNE zone, Anthony Farinacci and Jordan Haney worked the puck to the front of the net, where DeLabreure was waiting to deflect it home. The rookie's first score tied things at 1-1 for the time being.
The tied score didn't last long, however, as WNE came back with a goal just 33 seconds later, as Twietmeyer gave his team a 2-1 lead with 4:42 left in the opening period on assists from Connor Graham and Kleyman.
Western New England came out fast in the second period, searching for a much-needed insurance goal. The Golden Bears found that goal just more than five minutes into the period, when Smethurst got his second goal of the season on Kleyman's second assist of the game. The two sides played scoreless hockey the rest of the period, sending the game to the final 20 minutes with WNE leading, 3-1.
Tufts would not back down in the third, registering shot after shot in the final period. The Jumbos tallied 20 shots over the final frame, but Gollmer stood tall, stopping all 20 shots he faced in the frame, helping his squad preserve the 3-1 lead until the final horn.
Tufts held a 36-20 advantage in shots in the contest, while going 1-for-3 on the power play. Western New England was 0-for-5 with a man advantage, but won 35 face-offs to Tufts' 31.
The Jumbos end their play in November to move to their third straight away game at Williams on Friday night at 7 p.m while Western New England travels to Becker College on Thursday for a 7:40 p.m. puck drop.
2016 Rutland Herald Invitational All-Tournament Team
Kevin Gollmer (MVP) Western New England
David Kleyman Western New England
Joe Mazza Western New England
Mason Pulde Tufts
Cooper Stahl Tufts
Nick Kovalchik Castleton
Aidan Verbeke Brockport
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