HARTFORD, Conn. (March 3, 2024) – The No. 4 ranked Trinity College hockey team capped off a great season in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with a 4-0 victory over Tufts University in the conference championship game. made the final touches. Sunday at the Keppel Community Sports Center.
Trinity scored twice in the first period, including a goal with two seconds left. The Jambos held a two-point lead until two minutes left in regulation when the Bantams added two empty-net goals.
Currently at 23-3-1, the Bantams have won their seventh NESCAC championship and earned the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth. Trinity has won 11 games in a row.
Tufts (14-10-3), which had perhaps its best season in school history, will find out whether it can earn the elusive NCAA At-Large berth when selections are announced Monday.
Bantam sophomore goaltender Devon Bobak, the NESCAC Player of the Year, saved all 28 of Tufts' shots today, earning his sixth shutout of the season. Junior Richard Boysen had a hat trick for Trinity, scoring a second-period goal and a second empty-net goal later.
Trinity's first goal came after sophomore Spencer Corona won a faceoff. Boysen on the left side picked up the puck and fired a shot through traffic to give Trinity a 1-0 lead at the 15:20 mark of the first.
A late Bantam goal gave them a 2-0 lead when Bantam senior Kyle Tomaso stopped Tufts from clearing from his own zone at the blue line. He slipped in and fired a high shot to Durand, whose rebound bounced right in front of him. Boysen hit it and pushed it into the basket just as the final horn sounded. The referees debated the play and decided it beat the horn for the Bantams' decisive goal.
The score remained 2-0 thanks to a performance by Tufts' senior goaltender. Peyton Durand He made 10 saves and Bobak had eight. Both teams committed penalties.
Even into the third period, the Bantam team, ranked second in the country, played solid defense and the score remained 2-0. The Jumbos pulled away from Duran with two minutes left, but senior Devan Tang scored an empty-net goal at 18:01 and Boysen completed his hat trick at 18:41.
The shot ended 38-28 in Trinity's favor. Durand made 34 saves for the Jumbos today, making 79 saves on 81 shots on goal over the weekend, including 45 stops against Hamilton, for a save percentage of .975.
Tufts was playing in its first-ever NESCAC Championship Game after yesterday's 1-0 victory over Hamilton College. The Jambos' 14 wins are the most for any team since the 2000-01 season.
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