The ninth-seeded Middlebury men's hockey team (6-13-3) fell 4-1 at eighth-seeded Tufts in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament on Friday evening. The Jumbos (7-15-2) snapped the Panther's four-game winning-streak to advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday. 
 
Tufts had a great chance to score just 12 seconds in when Andrew Maynard took a shot from the doorstep, but Middlebury goalie Jake Horoho thwarted the early opportunity. The Panthers threatened to score with 12 minutes showing on the clock when Matt Myers sent a pass to Jin Lee, but netminder Josh Sarlo got a stick on Lee's one-time bid to deny the chance. The Jumbos broke through with 2:54 remaining in the opening period when Andrew Gunlock wristed a shot from just inside the blue line, giving Tufts a 1-0 edge. 
 
The Jumbos took a 2-0 lead when Harrison Bazianos wrapped around the goal and slipped the puck past Horoho at the 6:54 mark of the middle frame. With 19 ticks left on the clock in the second period, Andrej Hromic had a power play chance from just inside the blue line, but Sarlo clear away the puck to keep a two-goal lead heading into intermission. 
 
Middlebury skated five-on-four for the opening 1:29 of the third period, but a strong Tufts' defense held the Panthers to just a pair of attempts. The Jumbos made it 3-0 when Gunlock's slap shot from just inside the blue line made it through traffic and into the goal with 2:17 expired. Middlebury cut the deficit to 3-1 with 14:58 showing on the clock when Lee flipped a loose puck to Tucker Lamb on the pipe, before Lamb snuck the puck past Sarlo for his second goal in as many games. Tufts' Gunlock completed a hat trick with an empty net tally for the 4-1 final. 
 
Horoho made 28 saves in goal for Middlebury, while Sarlo stopped 32 shots for the Jumbos.