Fourth-ranked Tufts (13-1, 8-1) outscored Middlebury 6-1 in the fourth quarter on its way to a 23-14 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers (7-7, 4-5) wrap up their regular season on Wednesday with a 6:00 p.m. game at #8 Williams.

A high-scoring first quarter left the Jumbos with a 5-4 lead. Tyler Forbes and A.J. Kucinski each scored twice for Middlebury.

In the second session, Forbes struck again with a goal from 15 yards out at the top of the zone to tie the game at 5-5. The teams traded the next five tallies, before Danny Murphy gave Tufts a 9-7 lead with 8:36 remaining in the half.

Jack Sheehan scored an extra-man tally for the Panthers to make it a one-goal game (9-8). The Jumbos answered, before Kucinski closed the half coming from behind the net and scoring from a tough angle, as the visitors trailed 10-9 at the break.

Tufts scored back-to-back goals with an extra attacker to open the second half for a 12-9 advantage. Forbes and Alderik van der Heyde each tallied for Middlebury to bring them within a goal at 12-11 with 11:44 left in the third quarter. The Jumbos netted four of the next five goals before the Panthers closed the quarter by scoring two of the final three.

Trailing 17-13, Kucinski brought his team within three when he found the back of the net with 13:06 remaining in the fourth quarter. That's as close as Middlebury would come, as Tufts netted the game's final six goals for the 23-14 win.

Forbes and Kucinski each finished with five goals in the game, with Kucinski adding a pair of assists. Will Brossman scored twice and dished out an assist, while Jake Madnick was 20-41 with a dozen ground balls at the faceoff X. Tyler Bass made 13 saves in 57 minutes of action.

Murphy led all scorers with seven goals and two assists, while Matt Treiber had three goals and three assists and Max Waldbaum tallied three times. Mason Pollack made 18 saves in 56 minutes for the Jumbos.