Box Score CLINTON, N.Y.- Hamilton College recorded three goals on the powerplay to down the Tufts University hockey team on Friday night, 5-2.
|
| Sophomore Justin Brandt has recorded a point in six straight games. |
The Jumbos fall to 7-13-1 on the season with a 5-9-1 record in league games. The Continentals improve to 10-7-4 overall with a 9-4-2 record in NESCAC games.
An excellent chance for the Jumbos to score came late in the first period. Sophomore Justin Brandt drove from behind his own goal to the Continental end. He attempted to dump the puck into the corner, but it deflected off a defender. Senior Anthony Farinacci was in the right place to collect the loose puck and fire a slap shot from the top of the slot. Continental goaltender Sean Storr made the save.
Although they outshot the Jumbos in the first period (10-9), the Continentals did not have a strong chance to beat sophomore goaltender Josh Sarlo. Hamilton had earned a late powerplay and would start the second period with a five-on-three following another penalty being assessed to the Jumbos.
Hamilton drew a third penalty early in the second stanza and the hosts made the Jumbos pay with two powerplay goals by Nick Rutigliano and Cam Radizwon. The pair of goals came just 17 seconds apart from each other to give the Continentals a 2-0 advantage.
Tufts responded with a powerplay goal of their own. Senior Ross Delabruere kept a bouncing puck inside the attacking zone. He walked along the blueline to his right and found classmate Cooper Stahl. Stahl fired a pass to the right post for junior Mason Babbidge who one-timed the pass by Storr which cut the lead to one at 9:30. That is Babbidge's fifth goal of the season.
The Jumbos tied the contest at 12:37 with the fourth powerplay goal of the game. Junior Cal LeClair fired a shot that was blocked by a defender. However, senior Cory Gottfried was on the doorstep and buried the rebound for his fourth goal of the season.
The Continentals earned another powerplay, which the Jumbos killed off. The hosts had a golden opportunity just after the penalty expired. Nick Ursitti dangled his way towards goal, but he fired a shot right at Sarlo which kept the contest knotted at two.
Through two periods, the Continentals held a 26-20 shots advantage as both teams recorded two powerplay goals each in the period.
A penalty as time expired in the second period gave Hamilton their fifth powerplay of the contest. They would take the lead after Ursitti and Jordi Jefferson set up a give-and-go play at the blueline. Ursitti drove into the right side of the zone and sent a pass back across the goal mouth for Jefferson which gave the Continentals a 3-2 lead within the opening two minutes of the third period.
The Jumbos were forced to pull their goaltender with under one minute to play. After forcing a turnover, Fred Allaire fired a shot from his own defensive end into the empty net to give the Continentals a 4-2 lead. They added another empty net goal with just seconds remaining in the contest to take the 5-2 win.
Sarlo made 28 saves on 31 shots on goal in the losing effort, while Storr finished with 23 saves on 25 shots on goal.
The Jumbos were 2 for 3 on the powerplay while the Continentals were 3 for 6. Tufts won 35 faceoffs while Hamilton won 33.
The Jumbos return to action on Saturday afternoon when they head to Amherst College for their final road contest of the regular season. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 pm. The Continentals host Connecticut College on Saturday. They are also slated to start at 3:00 pm.
