WILLIAMSTOWN, MA (December 1, 2023) – Ten Jumbos scored points as the Tufts University men's hockey team earned its first victory of the season 7-4 in a NESCAC game tonight at Williams College.
Tufts (1-4-1, 1-2 NESCAC) was down 1-0 early, but took the lead 2-1 by the end of the first period and did not trail again. The Ephs (1-4, 1-2 NESCAC) twice pulled within a goal in the third period (4-3 and 5-4), but the Jumbos had an answer each time and then closed things down with an empty-netter.
Senior
Aidan Lovett, junior
Harrison Bazianos and sophomore
Liam O'Hare all had a goal and an assist for Tufts, while sophomore
Max Resnick and freshman
Trace Norwell both finished with two assists. Senior
Peyton Durand made 33 saves in goal.
After the Ephs took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by senior Faisal Al-Saif, the Jumbos got three straight goals from defensemen to go ahead. In the first period, both senior
Sam Miller and sophomore
Chris Throndson had rushes that started in their own end and finished with goals. On a power-play Throndson brilliantly wound through the Williams zone and from the left side sent a puck to the net which deflected in off an Eph defender for a 2-1 Tufts lead at 16:09 of the first.
Tufts went ahead 3-1 at 7:33 of the second period when senior defenseman
Jacob Iida came down into the left circle and took a pass from behind the goal line by Bazianos and scored. Resnick had won a puck in the right corner to get the play going. The Ephs closed to within 3-2 with under four minutes on the second-period clock as senior Ben Lawrick scored from low in the left face-off circle. It stayed a 3-2 game until the end of the period.
The teams would combine for six goals in the third period. Freshman
Marcus Sang's first collegiate goal gave Tufts a 4-2 lead 7:35 into the frame. Freshman defenseman
Sylas Oberting dug the puck out of the right corner and sent it to Sang in front of his own goal. He dashed the length of the rink into the Williams zone where he got around an Eph defenseman, then took a bad-angle shot that was saved and bounced into the air where he was able to bat it in.
The teams went back-and-forth. Williams senior Henry Muller scored less than a minute after the Tufts goal, spinning around after getting the puck in front of the net and scoring on a back-hander for a 4-3 score.
Resnick's hustle helped Tufts build on its lead. With persistence battling for the puck in the Williams zone he gained control along the right boards and sent a pass to Bazianos at the goal front. His first attempt was saved, but he capitalized on the rebound for a 5-3 Jumbo lead at 13:09 of the third.
Williams closed the margin again though while short-handed, as Al-Saif picked off a Tufts pass in the neutral zone and set up senior Jonah Gold at the left post for a goal making it 5-4 with 3:51 left.
However, with less than two minutes remaining Lovett took the puck in his own end and got it to freshman
Trace Norwell who would send a perfect pass across the Eph zone to O'Hare at the left post where he tapped it in for a 6-4 score. The Ephs pulled junior goalie Cal Sandquist with 1:15 on the clock, but Lovett would seal the victory with an empty-net goal for Tufts.
The hosts finished with a 37-31 advantage in shots. Sandquist had 24 saves in the Eph net. Al-Saif with a goal and an assist and senior Connor Tobin with two assists led the Ephs offensively.
The seven goals tonight were the most for Tufts since an 8-5 victory over Amherst College in February 2022.
The Jumbos move along to Middlebury College for a 4 PM game tomorrow. The Ephs welcome Connecticut College for a 3 PM start on Saturday.
--JUMBOS--
