Despite losing to last-place NESCAC Colby College in overtime on Friday, the Tufts men’s hockey team bounced back to defeat the Bowdoin Polar Bears on Saturday.
“Sometimes like on Friday if you don’t score you can get away from doing the right things and I think on Saturday we stuck with our game plan,” senior forward and captain Max Resnick wrote in a message to the Daily.
Tufts now enters the NESCAC tournament as the No. 3 seed, with a 9–9–0 conference record.
The opening period was an even, back-and-forth battle between the Bears and the Jumbos. Bowdoin won the first faceoff, then Tufts fired two shots on goal. Shortly after, Bowdoin recorded two shots on goal, followed by Tufts winning the faceoff.
This alternating pattern continued for most of the first period. Tufts senior goaltender Gus Bylin blocked 11 shots on goal, while Bowdoin’s Jacob Osborne stopped 12.
The Bears, however, hammered down the pressure on the Jumbos’ defense. Two of their shots were narrowly saved by Bylin in the final five minutes of the period.
The seesaw battle between the two teams closed out the period, with both teams heading to the locker room to regroup.
Tufts won the opening faceoff of the second period, but the back-and-forth play continued.
Five minutes into the period, junior forward Marcus Sang recovered the puck from Bowdoin and skated it along the boards in front of the Tufts bench. He sent a pass across the offensive zone to junior forward Mason Daignault, who dropped it back to Sang at the center line. Sang sped down the slot and fed a pass to first-year defenseman Zach Rizzo to his right. From there, Rizzo fired a shot into the net, giving the Jumbos a 1–0 lead. This was Rizzo’s first career goal.
New energy entered the arena as Tufts took the lead home.
The Jumbos worked cohesively, making clean tape-to-tape passes and finding open teammates on the ice.
Resnick won 10 of the 16 faceoffs he took, giving the game his all in his final regular-season appearance.
The rest of the second period saw Tufts playing with the upper hand, relentlessly shooting the puck on net.
With just under five minutes left, senior forward Cole Dubicki was assessed a minor penalty for tripping. Bowdoin tried to capitalize on the power play but came up empty, recording only one shot on goal during the two-minute advantage.
Less than a minute after Dubicki’s release from the penalty box, Bowdoin forward Jake Minella was called for holding the stick. Tufts started the power play with less than two minutes remaining in the period.
The Jumbos ended the second period leading by 1 point but knew they needed to stay sharp against the Polar Bears in the final frame.
Tufts had 16 seconds remaining on the power play as the third period began but came up empty, returning the game to even strength.
Just over two minutes later, Tufts extended its lead. Sophomore defenseman Drew Pitts intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and quickly fed a short pass to Daignault. Daignault moved it to Sang, who fired a wrist shot over Osborne’s shoulder to give Tufts a 2–0 advantage.
The second goal from Tufts snapped Bowdoin into action. Bowdoin raced the puck down the ice and slapped many attempts to the net, but were all blocked by Bylin. Tufts’ defense, however, could not hold indefinitely.
In the Tufts defensive zone, Bowdoin forward Jayson Alegria won the faceoff. His teammate, forward Bryce Bollman, gained possession and immediately sent the puck back to forward Michael Dinges at the high slot. Dinges blasted a shot toward the net, and Alegria buried the rebound to cut the deficit to 2–1.
The back-and-forth of the first period returned as both teams traded opportunities up and down the ice. With three minutes remaining, Bowdoin pulled Osborne in the hopes that a six-on-five would help them dominate the last couple minutes of the game.
Thirty seconds later, junior forward Ethan Ullrick scored on the empty net, assisted by Dubicki and junior forward Trace Norwell. Bowdoin briefly returned Osborne to the crease before pulling him again for the final minute and a half.
Less than 15 seconds later, first-year forward Dennis Davidson added an unassisted goal — his eighth of the season — to seal the 4–1 Tufts victory.
The game marked the end of the seniors’ final regular-season contest.
“In all honesty, it’s sad,” Resnick said. “It still doesn’t feel real that it’s coming to an end.”
Entering the NESCAC quarterfinals, Tufts will face Williams on Friday at Malden Valley Forum.
