2025-26 Tufts University Hockey Season Preview

MEDFORD, MA (November 11, 2025) - The Tufts University hockey team has emerged as one of the top squads in the competitive NESCAC, advancing to the conference championship game in two straight seasons. Twenty-three players return to head coach Pat Norton's team this year looking to point the Jumbos in the same direction and beyond.

The Jumbos finished the 2024-25 season strong. Tufts won 2-1 in overtime at Bowdoin College in the conference quarterfinals and then took a 6-2 victory against Colby College in the semifinals before falling to Hamilton College in the NESCAC championship game.

This year's team looks to be led by a defensive group that returns almost everyone, including senior goaltender Gus Bylin. Four defensemen who played major minutes as freshmen a year ago are more experienced, and Bylin enters his second season as the #1 guy in goal.

"Any time you return a veteran core on defense and you've got guys who have played in semifinal games and championship games, that type of experience follows into the next season and will be good for us," Coach Norton said. "They are a big catalyst to our team this year. They're the engine, I think."

The offense will be more of a work in progress following the loss of three of the top four scorers from last year in Tyler Sedlak, Harrison Bazianos and Brennan Horn. Two-time All-Conference honoree Max Resnick leads a returning group that has proven it can produce, while two Division I transfers and three freshmen all have the potential to contribute as the season goes on. 

"Who meshes with who, where our chemistry is, right now it's too early to tell," Norton said. "That takes a little developing. Sometimes it just clicks, sometimes it takes a little while to figure out what clicks. I really like the pieces we have though."

Here's a closer look at the Jumbos by position:

FORWARD: Resnick, according to Coach Norton, is as good a 200-foot player as there is in the NESCAC. In 77 career games he has produced 26 goals and 42 assists for 68 points while also being responsible on defense. He was a top-10 scorer in NESCAC last year with 22 points (10 goals-12 assists). Junior Trace Norwell has been a reliable contributor since joining the team, including a 6-10-16 season last year. He scored the overtime game-winner in the quarterfinal versus Bowdoin.

Seniors Cole Dubicki (3-11-14 last year), Brendan Fennell (3-3-6 last year), John Mulvihill (10 goals in 2023-24) and Liam O'Hare (4-10-14 in 2023-24) are veterans who have proven they can deliver for the Jumbos. Senior Jonathan Horn, a transfer to Tufts last year from UMass Lowell, started strong with a hat trick in his first game and 10 points in his first seven games. However, he was injured and the Jumbos would miss his production for almost half the season. He ended up 6-7-13 in 15 games.

Junior Marcus Sang and sophomore Rory Andriole were both young contributors in 2024-25. Sang's seven goals were tied for third-most on the team, and Andriole was the top-scoring freshman at 5-2-7. The Jumbos also welcome Division I transfers Eli Pilosof (Union) and Ethan Ullrick (Air Force) to the offense.

Junior Mason Daignault and sophomore Eli Deener-Chodirker will vie for more ice time this season.

The Jumbos hope this will add up to being stronger on the power play as well, where they scored at 13.7 percent last year.

DEFENSE: Along with the group of talented sophomores, the veteran leadership on defense from seniors Philippe Lamarre and Chris Throndon, along with junior Sylas Oberting is significant. All have played key roles in the last two seasons as Tufts compiled a solid 2.44 goals against average while advancing to consecutive conference championship games.

Much was made of the defense's youth last year, but the group of freshmen improved as the season went along and these players stand as a strength of this year's team. Now sophomores, Jameson Klein (2-4-6 in 2024-25), Bryceon Lago, Maddox Lizotte (team-high 38 blocks last year) and Drew Pitts all played 20 or more games last year and have the added experience to draw upon.

Junior Alex Rossides and sophomores Aaron Ackerson, Tommy Delfarno and Kodi Dotterer add to the depth here as they look to take on expanded roles.

Tufts had a good penalty-killing unit a year ago, succeeding at a .849 rate. Coach Norton thinks the squad has even better depth to fill these roles with this year. The Jumbos will look to be more aggressive with hopes to disrupt the opponents' power play and even possibly create more short-handed opportunities of their own.

GOALTENDING: Bylin found his stride as the #1 goalie and was elite in the second semester. The 6'4" senior was a part of three shutouts and made 35 saves in a 2-1 win over first-place Hamilton. In the final 11 games of the season, he had a .961 save percentage and 1.16 goals against average. Sophomore Tade Carman saw action in seven games including four starts a year ago. He earned a victory in his first collegiate appearance against Middlebury, coming on in relief and making 21 saves while allowing no goals in nearly 40 minutes of action helping Tufts came from behind to win.

FRESHMEN: Five new faces join the Jumbos for their freshman seasons. Caio Bernardini in goal, forwards Colby Dobek, Dennis Davidson and Peyton Militello and defenseman Zach Rizzo will look to make their mark on the 2025-26 Jumbos.

Tufts will start the new season at home this weekend at Valley Forum in Malden with games against Wesleyan University on Friday night and Trinity College on Saturday afternoon.

"In order for us to be at the level we want to be at, we've got to be more effective on the power play, we have to be more consistent in all three zones and we have to find different ways to score when needed," Norton said. "NESCAC is going to be an absolute dog fight yet again. Everybody's good. Our goal is to get home ice for the playoffs, to find ourselves as a top-four seed. I certainly think we're capable of doing it."