Box Score MALDEN – Sophomore Cal LeClair scored a hat trick to lead the Tufts University men's hockey team to a 4-2 victory over Wesleyan University in NESCAC action at home Friday night inside Valley Forum.
The hat trick was the first for a Jumbo since Mike Leary scored three times in Tufts' 4-3 victory over Brockport at Castleton's Rutland Herald Invitational on November 28, 2015.
The Jumbos stopped a three-game skid and improved to 5-10 overall and 3-6 in NESCAC. They gave Wesleyan (9-6, 5-4) their first loss in three games.
LeClair scored two goals on Tufts' first three shots of the game in the opening three and a half minutes of action. The Jumbos scored on their first shot of the game after senior Blake McIntyre sent a breakout pass forward for junior Charley Borek at center ice. He set up LeClair who fired a shot from just inside the left faceoff dot. His wrister beat Cardinal goaltender Tim Sestak just 1:20 into the contest.
Tufts quickly doubled their lead as junior Hayden Smith won an offensive zone faceoff from the right circle. The draw went over to Borek who passed to LeClair in the slot who again fired a wrister that beat Sestak stick-side just 2:15 later.
The Jumbos continued to apply pressure as strong shots by freshman Alex Lycett and senior Anthony Farinacci forced Sestak to make tough saves and keep the game at 2-0. After the first period, the Jumbos were holding a 19-7 shots advantage over the Cardinals.
Following a penalty assessed to the Jumbos 7:26 into the second period, strong defense turned to offense. Junior Michael Gordon forced a turnover at the blue line which LeClair picked up in his own zone and went on the offensive. The Jumbos had a 2-on-1 while on the penalty kill. LeClair looked to pass, but decided to shoot and fired a quick snapshot by Sestak for a short-handed goal and the hat trick at 7:58 of the middle stanza.
Wesleyan got on the board late in the second period. Following an offensive zone faceoff win by Tyler Wyatt, Jake Lachance made a nice play at the left point to win possession for the Cardinals. He drove forward and found Wyatt deep in the left faceoff cirle. Wyatt passed to Spencer Fox in the slot and he scored his fifth goal of the year closing the gap to 3-1 at 16:20 of the middle frame. For Lachance, that was his first collegiate point.
The Cardinals had a golden opportunity to pull within one later in the period as a rebound from a shot by Mike Dunderdale found its way out to the left circle. However, Emmet Powell's rebound shot would go wide of the near empty goal.
In the second period, the Cardinals had picked up their play after a flat first period and outshot the Jumbos, 15-7.
After chances for Wesleyan to close the margin including a sprawling blocked shot on a near-empty goal by the Jumbos, the Cardinals would get a goal at 12:25 into the third period. The puck found its way to the neutral zone where Alex Glummo chipped a pass forward for Tyler Kobryn. He drove and cut in towards goal from the left faceoff dot and fired a wrist shot that beat Tufts junior goalie Drew Hotte and narrowed the lead to one (3-2).
The Cardinals would pull Sestak with 1:45 on the third-period clock, but it was the Jumbos who put more shots on net during this time. After attempts by Lycett and senior Ross Delabruere were blocked by Cardinal defenders, Jumbo defenseman Jordan Haney scored an empty-net goal from his own end with 28 seconds remaining to ice it for Tufts.
Borek had a pair of assists for Tufts, who held a slim 34-33 advantage in shots for the game. Hotte finished with 31 saves and Sestak recorded 30 saves in the Cardinal net. Only two penalties were whistled in the game, both against Tufts.
The Jumbos host #1 in the nation Trinity College at Valley Forum tomorrow at 4. Wesleyan continues NESCAC action with a game at Connecticut College on Saturday at 3:00.
Watch Post-Game Comments by Tufts sophomore Cal LeClair ..
