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Recap | Box Score
Jumbo Hockey Loses 4-2 to SUNY Morrisville In First Round of Rutland Herald Invitational
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| Kyle Gallegos scored both Tufts goals |
RUTLAND, VT - Despite being outshot 35-25, SUNY Morrisville capitalized on a pair of Tufts penalties and skated away with a 4-2 victory over the Jumbos in the first game of the Rutland Herald Invitational at Spartan Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Mustangs were the more physical team on Saturday and earned just their second victory of the season with the win. They now advance to the championship game where they will face the winner of the Castleton vs. Becker contest at 6 p.m.
It was a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes with both teams getting good looks at the goal. Morrisville struck first on a power-play goal 18:40 into the period. The Mustangs' Ryan Marcuz (Richmond Hill, ONT) got a pass off the boards and whipped a wrist shot from the right circle over the shoulder of Tufts goalie Scott Barchard (Reading, MA). Jamie Nelson (Stratford, ONT) and Alex Tillaart (Ashburn, ONT) were credited with assists on the play.
The Jumbos were assessed another penalty early in the second period and it came back to haunt them as Morrisville converted with the man-advantage just 3:51 in. Freshman Matthew Beer (Corunna, ONT) got the puck off the boards and found classmate Patrick Stillar (Burlington, ONT) right in front and he wristed it past Barchard for the 2-0 lead.
Tufts nearly cut its deficit in half midway through the period, as a one-timer off a pass from behind the net clanged off the crossbar and bounced away harmlessly.
The Mustangs pushed their lead to 3-0 at the 14:53 mark as Eric Geertz (Penn Yan, NY) took a rebound off Barchard's pads right in front of the net and went top shelf for his first collegiate goal.
A rash of penalties in third period's first seven minutes gave Tufts a 5-on-3 at the 7:28 mark. They converted less than a minute later as Kyle Gallegos (Westminster, CO) took a pass from Blake Edwards (Columbus, OH) and sniped a slap shot over goalie Colin Breen's (Waterloo, ONT) right shoulder.
The Jumbos pulled their goalie in the final two minutes and it paid off as Gallegos fired a slap shot from the left circle on pass from Dylan Plimmer (Phoenix, AZ) to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 49 seconds remaining. However, the comeback wouldn't be fully imagined, as Morrisville scored an empty netter in the final 15 seconds to secure the 4-2 victory.
Breen finished with 33 saves on the afternoon to earn the victory while Barchard finished with 22 stops between the pipes. Tufts falls to 2-2 overall and will play Sunday at noon in the consolation game of the Rutland Herald Invitational.
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Game release courtesy of Castleton State College
