WATERVILLE, ME (February 17, 2024) - With the goalie pulled for an extra skater, Tufts University junior
Harrison Bazianos scored with 1:35 remaining in regulation leading the Jumbo hockey team to an eventual 4-4 overtime tie at Colby College in the final game of the regular-season on Saturday.
Tufts (12-9-3, 9-7-2 NESCAC) finishes third in the New England Small College Athletic Conference and will host a playoff quarterfinal next Saturday (Feb. 24) against six-seed Connecticut College. The game time is not yet determined. This is Tufts' best finish for the conference regular-season since the Jumbos joined NESCAC in 2001-02. The 12 victories overall for the team are the most since the 2011-12 team also won 12 games.
Today's tie is huge for Colby, who earned the eighth and final playoff berth because of the 1.5 points they received today. The Mules (9-11-4, 5-9-4) will play at #1 seed Trinity College in the quarterfinals next Saturday.
The host Mules had battled back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to tie today's game at 3-3 heading into the third period. They would fortuitously take a 4-3 lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the third when junior Jake MacDonald's attempted pass from along the right boards deep in the Tufts zone deflected into the goal off a Tufts defenseman's skate.
However, with senior goalie
Peyton Durand pulled for an extra skater, the Jumbos were able to tie it. A shot by
Cole Dubicki from the right point was kept in on the other side by
Sam Miller. He sent it down to
Tyler Sedlak, who set up Bazianos in the slot for the game-tying goal.
Both teams put two shots on goal in the extra session, but neither could score and the game ended at 4-4.
The Jumbos had jumped out in front by scoring twice 17 seconds apart in the final minute of the first period to lead 2-0. Bazianos set up Sedlak at 19:19, then sophomore
Max Resnick cut in to the slot from the left side and fired one home at 19:36.
Colby closed to 2-1 at 12:20 of the second period on another bad-angle goal by MacDonald. On a two-on-one with senior Michael McEachern, MacDonald knocked in a rebound from just behind the goal line to the right of the net.
However, second-period fireworks were just starting. Tufts regained its two-goal lead at 13:38 when Dubicki intercepted a Colby clearing attempt and then scored on the rebound of shot by sophomore
Liam O'Hare making it 3-1 at 13:38.
The Mules would tie the game before the period ended though, scoring twice in the final two and a half minutes. At 17:31, after sophomore Tyler Crist dug the puck out of a scrum in the left corner and put a shot on goal, senior defenseman Griffin Grise came in and deposited the rebound. Then at 18:43, the Mules broke out on a three-on-one with Crist eventually stuffing the puck in from right in front of the crease to tie the game.
Sedlak and Bazianos both had a goal and an assist for Tufts, while Miller assisted two goals. Durand finished with 35 saves.
For Colby, MacDonald scored twice, McEachern had three assists, Crist totaled a goal and two assists and Grise added a goal and assist. Senior goalie Andy Beran stopped 42 shots.
Total shots were 46-39 in favor of the Jumbos. Neither team had a power-play as there was only one set of matching penalties called in the game.
--JUMBOS--
