Box Score MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Two goals less than one minute apart in the third period pushed Tufts Hockey to a 2-2 tie at Middlebury College in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play on Friday night.
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| Senior captain Cooper Stahl tallied his first goal of the season. |
The Jumbos are now 6-10-1 on the season with a 4-6-1 record in league games. The Panthers are 7-8-2 with a 5-4-2 record in the NESCAC.
The Jumbos earned an early powerplay, but they could not convert on the extra-man opportunity. Middlebury controlled most of the pace in the period and would be rewarded with six minutes remaining in the opening frame.
Tyler Capello won an offensive zone faceoff and got a clean shot on Jumbo junior goaltender Drew Hotte. Hotte made the save and froze the puck resulting in another faceoff. Capello won the faceoff again, sending it back to Bret Pastor on the point. Pastor fired a shot through traffic that Hotte stopped, but the rebound came back out to the slot for Capello who scored to record the first goal of the game.
The Panthers earned a powerplay late in the period and had a golden chance to score as Capello was on the doorstep, but Hotte stood tall again. The rebound came to Antoine Belisle, but he fired a shot wide left.
At the close of the first period, Middlebury led 1-0 and outshot the Jumbos, 15-3.
Neither team managed to gain an advantage as the teams skated up and down the ice for the opening minutes of the second period. The best chance for the Jumbos to score in the contest to that point was a three-on-two as a cross-ice pass found junior Michael Gordon. His one-time shot went wide.
Tufts earned a powerplay opportunity at 7:30 of the period, but they did not earn a strong opportunity to find the twine.
The Jumbos earned their third powerplay chance of the contest with less than five minutes to play in the second period. A shot by sophomore Angus Scott that came from just inside the hash marks nearly beat Jake Horoho as the puck was loose in the crease, but it was cleared away to the corner.
Middlebury doubled their lead with 1:23 remaining in the period. A chip pass out to the neutral zone by Billy Dobensky found Matt Danner. Danner drove into the attacking zone on a two-on-one. He made a move that got the defender to drop to his stomach to break up the play. Danner waited out the defender and found Mitchell Allen who cut back to his right to beat the sliding Hotte and give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
Middlebury outshot the Jumbos 13-4 in the second period and led the game total 28-7.
Tufts needed to kill off the remainder of a penalty to start the third period, which they successfully did. Another powerplay came to the Panthers which the Jumbos killed off behind numerous saves by Hotte.
The momentum from the kill would spark a comeback for Tufts. The Brown and Blue earned their fourth extra-man opportunity of the contest. They got on the board as time expired on the penalty. Sophomore Justin Brandt forced a turnover behind the goal. Senior Ross Delabruere collected the loose puck and found classmate Cooper Stahl at the point. Stahl walked in and fired a wrister by Horoho at 9:56 closing the gap to 2-1.
Less than a minute later, the Jumbos tied the contest. Delabruere drove into the attacking end and dumped the puck into the corner. The puck was mishandled behind the goal and went out in front where sophomore Cal LeClair collected it and fired a shot by the Panther goaltender for his fourth of the season.
Middlebury had chances to regain the lead as Capello drove in from the left corner and fired three shots in close. Hotte kept the puck out until the Jumbos could clear the zone which sent the contest to overtime.
At the end of regulation, the Panthers led 38-17 in shots on goal.
Middlebury swarmed throughout the first four minutes of the extra frame. Danner and Allen had strong chances to end the contest, but Hotte continued to make saves. Owen Powers was in the right position to get the game-winner, but the puck slid just out of his reach in the closing seconds. The puck rattled around the zone until the buzzer sounded as the teams played to a 2-2 tie.
Hotte made 40 saves on 42 shots on goal in the tie while Horoho recorded 16 saves on 18 shots for the hosts.
The Jumbos were 0 for 4 on the powerplay while the Panthers were 0 for 3. Tufts controlled the faceoff circles as they won 35 draws compared to 27 for Middlbury.
Both teams have the usual quick turn-around as the Jumbos head to #11 Williams College tomorrow afternoon for a 3 pm puck drop. Middlebury hosts Connecticut College on Saturday afternoon at 4 pm.
