MALDEN, MA (January 9, 2023) – The red-hot Tufts University hockey team has now won seven straight games for the first time since the 2000-01 season following Tuesday evening's 2-0 victory over Fitchburg State University at Valley Forum.
After finishing the first semester with four consecutive NESCAC wins, head coach
Pat Norton's Jumbos opened 2024 by winning the Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational at Warrior Ice Arena with a pair of wins over the weekend. With tonight's victory, the Jumbos matched the winning streak of head coach Brian Murphy's 2000-01 team which started the season 7-0.
Tonight's success is also the second consecutive shutout for the Jumbos, including the 5-0 victory against Nichols College in the Boston Landing tournament championship on Sunday. Tufts has shut out back-to-back opponents for the first time since November 2018. Sophomore goalie Gus Bylin did the work tonight with 28 saves against the Falcons.
The Jumbos scored their first goal seven minutes into the game after sophomore
Cole Dubicki won a face-off in the Fitchburg end. He then retrieved a shot by senior defenseman
Jack Hughes behind the net, reversed direction and came out on the left side where he passed over to sophomore
John Mulvihill who potted his team-high sixth goal of the season.
Tufts' lead could have been more except for the fine play of Falcon junior starting goalie Cameron Isabelle, who was seeing his first action of the season. He made 13 first-period saves and 21 more in the second period before the Jumbos struck again.
On the second Jumbo goal, sophomore
Max Resnick won a face-off in the right circle. As the puck dribbled to the back of the circle, junior
Harrison Bazianos came over from his right-wing positon on the draw and fired a shot in at 5:45 of the second frame. Tufts would finish the second period with a 24-11 advantage in shots.
Bylin was tested at times by a solid Fitchburg squad in order to earn his shutout. The Falcons had three power-play opportunities in the game, and played the last 1:43 with an empty net and an extra man, but weren't able to capitalize. Making his second start of the year, Bylin recorded his first shutout of 2023-24 and the third of his career.
The Falcons also gave freshman Frederick Soderberg some playing time in net tonight, as he logged 25 minutes and made 10 saves. Isabelle had 34 stops in 33 minutes. Sophomore Trenton Skaggs blocked five shots for the visitors.
Tufts won 37 of 61 face-offs tonight (60.7 percent) including a 10 for 14 game by junior
Brennan Horn.
The Jumbos return to NESCAC action this weekend with a road trip for games at Amherst College on Friday night and at Hamilton College on Saturday afternoon.
--JUMBOS--
