Box Score 
MALDEN – On Senior Night, the Tufts University hockey team outscored the Amherst College Mammoths by a score of 8-5 in Saturday afternoon's NESCAC matchup at Valley Forum.
All 13 of the goals seen in the game were scored by a different player, and Tufts' Justin Brandt and Angus Scott (pictured) each scored a goal and added two assists to finish the game with three points. The Jumbos' eight goals were the most in a game since the 2017-18 season, when they scored nine goals in a 9-3 victory over King's College.
There were four total first-period goals, all coming within the first seven minutes of the game. It was Tufts that got on the scoreboard first just over two minutes into the game on a break-away goal from Aidan Lovett that was set up by a long pass from sophomore Cam Newton. Lovett received the pass and made a nice move on Amherst goalie Dan Dachille for his second goal of the weekend. After a faceoff victory, the Mammoths tied it up when senior Pieter von Steinbergs possessed the puck and sent a pass to Connor McGinnis near the blue line who sent a wrist shot towards the net that was tipped in by Sean Wrenn. The Jumbos would finish the period with two more goals in the fifth and seventh minutes of the action. They took the 2-1 lead on Clark Bolin's first collegiate goal as he sent it past Leslie after collecting the rebound from Gunnar Stadem's shot from the blue line. Mason Kohn followed that up with a goal of his own to give Tufts the 3-1 lead heading into the second period. Kohn found space in front of the net and received a pass from Joel Brandinger, sending it past Dachille for the goal.
The high-scoring affair continued in the second period, as both teams combined for five goals. Just over one minute into the period, Brandt scored on a penalty shot after nearly scoring on a break-away opportunity. Nearly two minutes later, freshman Brennan Horn made it 5-1 after collecting a loose puck in the corner and wrapping around the back of the net and sending it past new Amherst goalie Connor Leslie. Amherst would retaliate with two unanswered goals of their own, including one by Greg McGunigle just 12 seconds after Horn's goal. McGunigle fired a shot past Jumbos goalie Josh Sarlo from the blue line after receiving a pass from Evan Lichman. The Mammoths would make the score 5-3 with just under 10 minutes to go in the period when Joey Verkerke collected a pass from Mitchell Shults on the right side of the goal and sent a wrist shot into the back of the net. Towards the end of the period, Tufts found themselves on the powerplay as well and Newton sent the game to the third period with a 6-3 Jumbos lead, scoring on a rocket of a slapshot from the blue line. Brandt and Scott earned the assists for the goal.
The streak of power play goals continued into the third period as Tufts' Tom Tresca extended the Jumbos' lead with his second goal of the weekend. Tresca received a quick pass across the ice and one-timed a shot into the open net past Leslie for the goal. Amherst would score two more goals in the third, one from Matt Toporowski and one from Ryan Tucker. Toporowski collected a loose puck in Tufts' zone, found himself alone in front of the net and sent a shot right over the glove of Sarlo for the goal. With 2:06 left in the game, Tucker would score the fifth and final goal for Amherst on a power play, collecting a loose rebound and sending a slapshot into the back of the net. Scott would finish the game with an empty net goal for Tufts with 22 seconds left to give the Jumbos the 8-5 victory.
Amherst led the shots on goal battle 46-25, but Sarlo had 41 saves on the day for Tufts compared to Leslie and Dachille's 17 combined saves. The victory brings the Jumbos to 5-12-2 this season with a NESCAC record of 5-8-2. Amherst falls to 9-10-2 with a conference record of 8-7-1.
The Jumbos will now travel to Hamilton College for a NESCAC matchup on Sunday, February 13 at 4 pm.
Written by Tim O'Brien, Athletic Communications Intern
