MIDDLETOWN, CT. – The Wesleyan men's ice hockey team took to home ice on Friday night, hosting Tufts University in the second and final meetup of the regular season. Tufts bested Wesleyan in a 3-1 NESCAC final at Spurrier-Snyder Arena.

While the final score did not reflect the tenacity of the Cardinals (5-10-0 overall, 4-5-0 NESCAC) on ice performance, the Jumbos (7-7-1 overall, 4-5-0 NESCAC)  kept the Cardinals on their toes all night and were the first to strike late in the first period. Brendan Fennell was recognized with the shoved goal.

Unflinching, the Cardinals regrouped and outpaced the Jumbos as the second period fell underway. Marcus Sang advanced the Jumbos to a two-goal lead, but the excitement was temporary. Earning an extra skater with the Jumbos called for slashing, the Cardinals put Connor Sutherland '27 and the power play to work. Sutherland flipped the puck over the pad of Gus Bylin on a redirect from Danny Judge '26 as Bylin was unable to locate the puck. Jack Marottolo '26 was awarded the secondary assist.

A late empty-net goal scored by Max Resnick quelled the potential for an overtime period, but it fell on the heels of another period dominated by the Cardinals' offense. Cardinals goaltender Patrick McDevitt '28 pulled a feat of a save in the bottom minutes of the final period, putting an initial stop to a Jumbos forward before snagging a catapulted redirect from the top of the crease. The Cardinals outshot the Jumbos 39-27 overall.

Capping the evening, Sutherland led all Cardinals with six shots on goal.

McDevitt finished the evening with 24 total saves as Bylin earned the win with 38 saves in the opposite cage.

The Cardinals return to action on Saturday, Jan. 24, when they host Conn. College at 3 p.m.