Courtesy St. Michael’s Sports Information
MALDEN, MA. — The Saint Michael’s College men’s ice hockey team hit the road for the first time in nearly a month but fell to Tufts University, 4-0, on Tuesday evening in the Valley Forum.
RECORDS
· Saint Michael’s (1-7-1), Tufts (2-3)
SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS
· Senior Chris Johnson (Duxbury, Mass./Pomfret School), 37 saves
· Senior Sam D’Antuono (Hingham, Mass./Dexter School), 21-for-31 faceoffs
· Sophomore Brandon Mitchell (North Scituate, R.I./Pomfret School), 3 blocked shots
OPPONENT LEADERS
· First-year Angus Scott, 1 goal, 1 assist
· Junior Ross Delabruere, 1 goal
· Sophomore Charley Borek, 1 goal
· First-year Nick Schultze, 1 goal
· First-year Josh Sarlo, 15 saves
GAME FACTS
· Johnson pushed his career save total to 1,932, passing Bill Heney ’92 (1,914) to take over fourth in program history.
· Johnson’s 35th career 30-save performance.
· After playing its last five games at home, Saint Michael’s took to the road for the first time since Oct. 30.
· The Purple Knights faced a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) foe for the second straight game, returning to action for the first time since hosting Amherst College last Tuesday.
· Saint Michael’s was 38-for-68 on faceoffs, with D’Antuono taking nearly one third of the draws contested.
THE ACTION
· After killing an early penalty by not yielding any shots during a Tufts man advantage that began 2:50 into the game, Saint Michael’s earned a power play of its own at 6:06. The Purple Knights’ lone scoring opportunity in that stretch came when sophomore Noah Muller (Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Düsseldorfer EG) had a shot stopped by Sarlo at 7:34 before classmate Paul McAuliffe (Newton, Mass./Kimball Union Academy) sent a follow-up try wide.
· Tufts went ahead 10:03 into the frame, as first-year Justin Brandt made a rush from his own right circle into the Purple Knight zone and passed into the slot for junior Anthony Farinacci, who had a backhander denied by Johnson, but Schultze scored on the rebound from in close.
· The Jumbos went up 2-0 at 15:16 of the second after a Tufts player blocked a Purple Knight shot at the blue line to create an odd-man breakout, and Scott scored from the right circle during the rush.
· Saint Michael’s gained a man advantage with 20 seconds left in the period that carried into the third frame, but Delabruere scored on a second try out front 41 ticks into the final stanza for a shorthanded marker that made it 3-0.
· Borek accounted for the final goal at 17:22, pushing home a rebound of junior Tyler Scroggins’ saved shot.
NEXT SAINT MICHAEL’S GAME
· Saturday at Assumption College, 7 p.m.
· The contest will mark the Purple Knights’ return to Northeast-10 Conference play for the first time since Nov. 9, having taken a four-game hiatus.