The Middlebury men's ice hockey team knotted the contest 1-1 in the opening stanza, but Tufts tallied three-straight goals on Saturday, including an empty netter, to secure the 4-1 win.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Jumbos took advantage of an early power play to take a 1-0 edge. With 3:10 expired, Cole Dubicki sent a pass across the slot to Harrison Bazianos whose one-timer just slipped past goalie Jake Horoho.
• The Panthers found the equalizer at the 8:24 mark. Matt Myers stole the puck in transition and flipped it to Dante Palombo who skated toward the goal, deeking netminder Peyton Durand and sneaking the puck inside the left pipe to make it 1-1.
• Tufts regained its advantage with 3:58 elapsed in the middle frame. Dubicki won the faceoff in the offensive zone and rifled a shot through traffic that John Mulvihill tipped in the slot to make it 2-1.
• With just over five minutes left in the second period, Middlebury had a chance to tie the contest during its own power play. Nolan Moore blasted a shot from just inside the blue line that was denied by Bazianos. The rebound skirted just on the outside of the goal line, nearly going in, but was cleared away by a defender. 
• The Panthers' best chance to knot the game came with 2:42 expired. Jin Lee skated around a Tufts defenseman and set up a beautiful two-on-one with Andrej Hromic, but Hromic's one-time bid from point blank was thwarted by a sprawling Durand.
• The Jumbos increased their advantage to 3-1 at the 14:14 mark. An initial blast by Tyler Sedlak was denied by Horoho, but Max Resnick was on the right pipe to shovel in the rebound.
• Middlebury pulled its goalie with just over a minute remaining, but Tufts tallied an empty netter to secure the 4-1 win.

NOTES

• Palombo's goal was his first as a Panther.

Middlebury closes out the fall portion of its schedule next weekend, hosting Hamilton on Friday at 7:00 p.m., and Amherst on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.