MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Tufts will make its first appearance in the NESCAC
Championship game after an 8-7 win over Wesleyan in the semifinals at
Middlebury. The Jumbos will take on the Panthers on Sunday at noon in the
title game. Wesleyan ends their season with an 11-5 mark.
Wesleyan came out strong, scoring four of the game's first five
goals. Chris Knacke had a pair of goals to help spark the run which gave the
Cardinals a 4-1 lead after one quarter. Bryan Griffin of Tufts scored the
only goal of the second quarter at the 11:42 mark to cut the lead to 4-2 at
the half. Ian Applegate made it a 5-2 Wesleyan lead early in the third
quarter before Tufts ran off four unasnwered goals to take a 6-5 lead early
in the fourth quarter. Four different goal scorers found the back of the net
during the run for Tufts. Applegate answered for the Cardinals as he scored
twice to regain the lead for Wesleyan at 7-6 with 7:50 left to play. Griffin
tied the game at the 5:12 mark as he took a nice feed from behind the net
from Mike O'Brien before he finished. The Jumbos won the ensuing face-off as
Griffin scored the game-winner just 34 seconds later, driving to the net.
Wesleyan had the ball on offense for the final 1:52 of the game, but Matt
Wheeler made three saves on four Wesleyan shots in the final few minutes of
the contest to preserve the win.
Griffin led Tufts with four goals on the afternoon, while Applegate
scored five for Wesleyan.
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