Box Score MALDEN – The Tufts University hockey team scored in each period as they downed Colby College in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play on Friday night at the Malden Valley Forum.
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| Junior Mason Babbidge has tallied a goal in four of the last five games. |
With the win, the Jumbos improve to 8-14-1 on the season with a 6-10-1 record in league games. The Mules fall to 7-13-3 overall with a 3-12-2 record in NESCAC play.
The Jumbos struck early as sophomore Nick Schultze drove from his own defensive end towards goal. He fired a shot on which Mule goaltender Andrew Tucci made the initial save. Schultze followed up his shot and buried the rebound at 1:56 of the period. Sophomore Justin Brandt earned an assist on the play.
After the teams battled back-and-forth for most of the period, the Mules got an equalizer with 3:48 remaining in the opening frame. Carter Breitenfeldt forced a turnover deep in the Jumbo zone. He quickly found J.P. Schuhlen who was crashing the goal and fired a one-time snapshot by Sarlo into the top right corner.
The teams closed the period at 1-1, with both teams firing nine shots apiece.
After a strong powerplay by the Jumbos in the second period, they regained momentum and pressured the Mules. That would pay off as Tufts took the lead midway through the second period. Senior Anthony Farinacci battled his way out of the left corner and made a quick move on Tucci to open the goal for his fifth of the season.
The Mules soon sustained a significant amount of offensive pressure that spanned nearly four minutes and they fired 16 total shots. Nine of those shots forced Sarlo to make a save, four were blocked, and the rest went wide. The best chance to score came on a shot by Jalen Kaplan. He fired a wrister from the blueline right to Sarlo's glove. However, he didn't get all of it and the ricochet glanced off the crossbar.
The teams closed out the period with the Mules outshooting the Jumbos 17-9 and 26-18 for the game.
Both teams had early powerplay chances in the third period, but neither team managed to find the twine. Tufts became the beneficiary of a bad bounce and an increase in physical play. Junior Mason Babbidge was credited with a goal midway through the third period which gave the Jumbos a 3-1 edge.
Colby would push the pace down the stretch needing two goals, but even with the goaltender pulled they could not manage to close the gap.
In the final frame Tufts outshot the Mules 10-7. However, Colby outshot the Jumbos for the contest 33-28.
Sarlo made 32 saves in the win. He improves to 6-8-0 on the season. Tucci drops to 3-11-3 after his 25-save effort.
Both squads were 0 for 2 on their powerplay chances. The Mules won 32 faceoffs compared to 24 by the Jumbos.
Both teams play their regular-season finales tomorrow afternoon. The Jumbos will honor their seven seniors prior to their 4:00 pm start against Bowdoin College. Tufts is looking for a victory that will secure a conference playoff berth. The Mules travel to Connecticut College with puck drop slated for 3:00 pm.
Watch Post-Game Comments by Sophomore Josh Sarlo ...
