MALDEN, Mass. – The Connecticut College men's ice hockey team's comeback effort came up just short, as the Camels fell to host Tufts University 5-3 on Saturday afternoon from Malden Valley Forum in the NESCAC quarterfinals. With the loss Conn falls to 9-14-2 overall, while Tufts improves to 13-9-3.
It was a dream start for Conn (9-14-2) as The Camels opened the scoring just 2:48 into the contest. After Steven Ardagna (Roswell, Ga.) blocked a shot, Logan Cleary (Mentor, Ohio) picked up the puck just inside his own blueline, taking it himself and beating Tufts (13-9-3) goaltender Peyton Durand to make it 1-0. Conn continued its strong play in the opening period, doubling the lead at 18:27. Michael DiMascolo (Cranston, R.I.) fed a pass to Will Winship (Andover, Mass.), dropping it back to DiMascolo who beat Durand, with Pete Stanger (Bathurst, New Brunswick) picking up the secondary assist, as the Camels led 2-0 after one.
The Jumbos did not go away quietly, cutting the deficit to one at 6:59 of the middle frame on a tally from Brendan Fennell. Tufts tied the game at two on a shorthanded goal from Trace Norwell at 12:07. The Jumbos kept up the pressure, taking the lead at 15:59 on a marker from Tyler Sedlak, before Sedlak added a second goal a minute later, as Tufts led 4-2 heading to the third.
Conn started the third period strong, looking to cut into the Tufts lead, but the Camels were unable to crack Durand and the Jumbos. However, Conn finally got the deficit to one, as DiMascolo tallied his second goal of the game off a Kei Yasuda (Nagoya, Japan) assist. The Camels continued to push for the tying goal, and pulled goaltender Sean Dynan (Reading, Mass.) with just over a minute left for the extra attacker. Conn threw everything at Tufts, but it was the Jumbos who found the empty net, to come away with the 5-3 win.
Conn outshot Tufts 35-31, while winning 49 of 90 draws.
Dynan got the start in his final game as a Camel, making 26 saves. DiMascolo paced Conn with two goals, with Cleary adding the other marker, while Stanger, Winship, and Yasuda notched one assist each. Cole Eichler (King, Ontario) led the way with six shots on goal, while the Camels blocked 12 shots as a team led by Ardagna with three. Yasuda won 17 of 25 face-offs as Conn went 2-2 on the penalty kill and 0-3 on the power play.
Durand got the nod in net, recording 32 saves. Sedlak led the way with three goals, while Max Resnick added three assists. Tufts finished the afternoon 0-2 on the power play and 3-3 on the penalty kill.
Conn's season comes to an end with an overall record of 9-14-2 and a 7-11-0 mark in conference play. The nine overall wins and seven in conference play, are the most for the Camels since the 2019-2020 season.
