Box Score MALDEN - Senior goalie Sean Lawrence made 30 saves for his third shutout of the season and fourth of his career as the Colby College Mules blanked Tufts University 3-0 in NESCAC men's hockey action Saturday afternoon at Valley Forum.
Despite the loss, the Jumbos earned the eighth and final berth into the 2018 NESCAC Championship tournament on this last day of their regular season. With Friday's 4-2 win over Bowdoin, Tufts passed the Polar Bears into eighth place in NESCAC with one point separating the teams heading into today. The Jumbos clinched the post-season spot by virtue of Bowdoin's 7-3 loss at Connecticut College this afternoon. Tufts (5-15-4, 4-11-3 NESCAC) will play at top seed Trinity College in the quarterfinals next Saturday.
Colby is currently in a four-way tie for third place in NESCAC with their 20 points (9-7-2). The Mules (12-10-2 overall) will have to wait for the final two conference games of the regular season to be played tomorrow before the conference seedings are announced.
Today the Mules scored a pair of goals 88 seconds apart in the first period to take a lead they would not relinquish. On a two-on-one play, senior tri-captain Phil Klitirinos dished to junior Nick O'Connor who had a wide-open net in which to deposit his 11th goal of the year at 14:40. Then with under four minutes remaining in the first period junior Thomas Stahlhuth netted his second goal of the season and the Mules quickly led 2-0.
After a busy first period that saw 29 shots (15 for Tufts) and five penalties between the teams, the pace settled down in the second period. Tufts freshman Mason Babbidge hit the post with under two minutes remaining in the frame as Colby kept its two-goal margin into the second intermission. Shots were 7-6 Colby in the middle stanza with just one penalty on the Mules whistled.
With Tufts having celebrated Seniors Day to begin the game, Colby took the air out of Valley Forum with their third goal in the middle of the last period. Klitirinos again set up a teammate with a wide-open net as this time senior Mario Benicky tallied at 9:09 for a 3-0 Colby margin. That's how it would end as the Mules remained unbeaten in their last four (2-0-2) and improved to 5-2-2 (.667) since January 20.
Both teams played aggressively on defense, challenging shots all game. Colby finished with 21 blocks including five by senior Michael Decker, who also had an assist. Brian Brown, one of the four seniors honored by Tufts before the game, blocked four shots. O'Connor won 15 of his 24 face-offs to lead the visitors in that category. The Jumbos had a slight edge in face-off wins at 36-32 with sophomore Tyler Scroggins leading the way with 13.
Neither team converted on three power-play chances. Senior co-captain Nik Nugnes made 26 saves in the Tufts net before giving way to classmate Ryan McConnell, who finished up with four stops.
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