Box Score 
WATERVILLE, Maine – The Tufts University hockey team fell to the Colby College Mules 3-0 on Friday night at the O'Neil | O'Donnell Forum on Colby's campus.
It was Colby that got on the board first, just under 10 minutes in, when junior forward Alex Bourhas received a pass from Carter Breitenfeldt on the right side of the net, skated forward and sent a wrist shot past Jumbos' goalie Josh Sarlo (pictured) to give the Mules the 1-0 lead. The teams would go back and forth for the majority of the remainder of the period. Colby went on the power play with 3:35 left in the period, but the Jumbos successfully killed the power play with two key saves from Sarlo to keep the game at 1-0 going into the second period. Tufts' best scoring opportunity came on the power play nine minutes into the period. Tyler Sedlak blasted a slapvshot off the pad of Colby goalie Andy Beran that bounced back out to Sam Miller who controlled the puck and created a scoring opportunity by passing to Tom Tresca who found Justin Brandt in front of the net, but Baran made another point-blank save.
The second period was a goalkeeping and defensive battle, with the score staying at 1-0 for almost the entire period. With just 22 seconds left, Colby's Justin Grillo passed to Breitenfeldt in the corner and he took a tough-angled shot towards the goal that was deflected by Sarlo, leaving a loose puck in the crease where senior forward Michael Morrissey picked up the scraps and finished it in the net. Both teams had multiple scoring chances in the period and both goalies made important saves paired with good defensive play. With 13 minutes left in the period, Tufts sophomore defenseman Jacob Iida made a pivotal defensive play sliding in the middle of a Colby two-on-one to stop the Mules from getting a shot off. Sarlo once again kept the Jumbos in the game, making 14 saves in the second period as they headed to the third period down 2-0.
The defensive theme continued in the third period, with both teams limiting each other's scoring opportunities. Tufts started the period on the power play because of a penalty as time expired in the second period and Sarlo made a sliding save just one minute in on an early short-handed opportunity for Colby. The Jumbos had multiple scoring chances during the power play, including a hard wrist shot from Brennan Horn from the blue line that found its way through traffic and barely hit Beran's shoulder for the save. Sarlo made another crucial save of his own halfway through the period on a Jack Sullivan one-timer and used his skate to clear the loose puck out of the crease. Beran held the Jumbos scoreless for the remainder of the period and the Mules eventually clinched the victory with Grillo empty-net goal with 2:23 left to make it 3-0.
Colby won the shots on goal battle 39-17 and both teams went scoreless on the power play with Colby going 0 for 4 and the Jumbos finishing 0 for 5. Both teams were fairly even in faceoff victories with Colby winning 40 and Tufts winning 34. Beran finished the game with 17 saves compared to Sarlo's 36.
Next up, the Jumbos will stay in Maine and travel to Bowdoin tomorrow, Saturday, February 19 to take on the Polar Bears at 3 pm.
Written by Tim O'Brien, Athletic Communications Intern
