Box Score Recap Courtesy of Hamilton College
CLINTON, N.Y. – Hamilton College's men's hockey team's 13-game unbeaten streak ended Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 loss to visiting Tufts University in a NESCAC game at Russell Sage Rink. The Continentals, ranked fifth by D3hockey.com and sixth by USCHO.com, were the last NCAA hockey team at any level to lose a game.
The game was a showdown between the top two teams in the NESCAC standings; Hamilton (11-1-2 overall) remains in first place with a 6-1-2 conference mark while the second-place Jumbos (7-4-3 overall) are now 5-2-1 in the conference.
The teams traded goals late in the opening period, before Tufts scored the game winner midway through the second and sealed the win with an empty net goal with 40 seconds to go by junior Clay Berger.
After trailing 2-1 for nearly 31 minutes, the Continentals had their best chance to tie the score in the waning minutes. A Tufts penalty at the 18:32 mark left the visitors short-handed and allowed Hamilton to pull goaltender junior Evan Buitenhuis for an extra attacker, but the Jumbos capitalized on the empty net by scoring their short-handed goal of the game.
Senior assistant captain Sean Kavanagh sent a long shot into the Hamilton zone that went just wide of the left post before bouncing off the boards back in front of the net, where freshman Tyler Scroggins outskated a Continental to poke the puck in.
Senior Conor Lamberti notched Hamilton's only goal, putting the hosts ahead on a power play goal with 3:23 left in the first. Junior Neil Conway and freshman Bennett Morrison assisted on Lamberti's goal (his second of the winter).
Tufts was whistled for a penalty 39 seconds later but the Jumbos' Berger scored the first of his two goals midway through Hamilton's power play. Scroggins and junior Trevor Davis assisted on the goal.
Berger collected his third goal of the season 7:06 into the second to give Tufts the lead for good.
Mason Pulde (5-2-2) brought in 39 saves in the victory while junior Evan Buitenhuis (9-1-2) made 20 stops in the match.
The Jumbos travel to have their first rematch of the season against defending champion Trinity (Conn) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Continentals adventures to Massachusetts to play against Amherst College on Friday at 7 p.m.
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