MIDDLETOWN, CT.- Wesleyan men's hockey scored a late shorthanded goal to lift them past NESCAC opponent Tufts, 2-1 Saturday afternoon. Owen Sweet '25 sent the folks at Spurrier-Snyder Rink home happy, beating his man one on one before placing the deciding goal into the back of the net with just under 30 seconds remaining in the game. Wesleyan improves to 2-0 on the young season, defeating two NESCAC teams in the process. Tufts drops their second straight game to open up 2022-23 season, falling to 0-2.

The history between these two teams goes back to the 1986-87 season, with the Cardinals holding a 24-20-4 record against the Jumbos including their victory over them this afternoon. The last few battles between the two NESCAC schools have been good ones, with the last three meetings decided by one or fewer goals. Their last meeting which came in 2021-22 which ended in a Wesleyan overtime loss to Tufts.

Tufts got on the board early, netting their first goal of the game within the first five minutes of the contest. After a shot apiece, it was Tufts who had the first true scoring chance of the afternoon and they capitalized. Brennan Horn was able to knock the puck away from a Wesleyan defender right to Max Resnick who gathered and immediately shot from point blank range to beat Marc Smith '24 and give Tufts an early 1-0 lead over the Cardinals. Wesleyan had a few chances to score in the second half of the period, but were unable to convert on two powerplays, not registering a shot. There best chance came in between the two penalties, with Jake Lachance '23 having his shot from the blue line bang off the crossbar before being controlled by the Tufts defense.

Tufts continued the pressure in the 2^nd period as they registered 15 shots on goal, all of which were turned away by Smith to keep the deficit to just one goal. Five of those 15 shots were on Tufts' first powerplay of the game. Wesleyan had eight shots on goal in the period, but were shut out as well by the Jumbos defense and goalie Peyton Durand. Wesleyan ended the period strong, getting the last four shots on goal of the second 20 minutes, but Tufts might have had the best chance of the period with a two on one in the final minutes but the pass across the crease was mishandled.

The Jumbos came out with four quick shots to start the final period, but Wesleyan responded with their first goal of the afternoon. Go Uemura '23 made a nice outlet pass to Colin Cobb '23 who executed the two-on-one with Wiggle Kerbrat '24 dishing it to him for a clean one-timer from the left side. Wesleyan almost immediately had goal number two when a tipped Tufts' pass ended up on D.J Dixon's '25 stick in the slot but his slapshot was corralled by Durand.

It looked like Tufts was going to put the game away, when they had a powerplay for the final minute 45 seconds of the game, but Wesleyan's powerplay defense made a play. Mike Dunderdale '23 blocked a shot then tipped a pass to Sweet in the neutral zone where he had a one on one with a Jumbos' defender. Sweet made his move, beating the defender left before coming back to beat Durand five-hole with only 27 seconds remaining. Smith stood tall in the final 20+ seconds, turning away both shots to secure Wesleyan's 2^nd straight victory.

Smith made a career-high 36 saves, while Durand made 24. Kerbrat scores a goal for the second straight game, while Sweet scores the game-winner which was the first of the season for him. Uemura and Cobb continue their hot start to the year adding their 3^rd and 4^th points of the season respectfully on assists. Dunderdale contributes his first points of the season with an assist on the game-winner.

Wesleyan will return to the ice next weekend where they will play a non-conference game against Post at Spurrier-Snyder Rink on November 26^th.