Box Score
MEDFORD, MA -- Aided by two third period goals from Nick Anderson '14, the Williams College Men's Hockey team (3-0-2) notched a 4-1 victory over the Tufts Jumbos (3-3-0) on Friday night.
With the win, the Ephs handed the Jumbos their first conference loss and remained undefeated in conference play with a league record of 2-0-1.
After a one-goal first period and a scoreless second frame, Williams blew past the Jumbos with three goals in the third period to secure the victory. Anderson started the scoring with a power-play goal one minute into the third period. Five minutes later, he capitalized again with a shorthanded score on a Tufts power play.
Eric Rubino '13 added a goal midway through the period to give the Ephs a commanding 4-0 lead that goaltender Ryan Purdy '12 and the Eph defense preserved for the 4-1 win.
After a week's rest, the Ephs took the ice in Medford looking to knock Tufts out of the NESCAC lead. They got off to a good start when, seven minutes into the game, Tucker Dayton '14, snuck a wrist shot inside the left post to give Williams the early 1-0 lead. Forwards Craig Kitto '15 and Alex DeBaere '15 contributed assists on the play.
Aided by their early advantage, Purdy and the experienced Williams defense went to work. The Eph back line limited the Tufts attack to just six shots in the first period, and Purdy was up to the task in the second frame as he stopped ten Jumbo shots to keep the Ephs up 1-0.
After the game, Head Coach Bill Kangas praised the efforts of his experienced defense and goaltending. "As I've said all along, our team is going to be coached around goaltending and defense," noted Kangas. "When you have four senior [defensemen] and a senior goalie, it means a lot. They really did a good job getting pucks out of the zone, and forced their forwards to play them tight defensively to give our forwards more space. It really comforts our team when the defense is playing well."
Clinging to a 1-0 lead heading to the final twenty minutes, the Ephs put their previous third period woes behind them to notch three unanswered goals. They started the period on a 5-on-3 man advantage after two Jumbo penalties late in the second period, and Anderson capitalized fully with his first goal of the night. Rubino and defenseman Steve Maier '12 added the assists.
The back-breaker for the Jumbos came five minutes later when Anderson added another goal, this time on a Tufts power play. Assisting Anderson once again were Rubino and Maier.
Adding the final goal for the Ephs was Rubino, who finished the night with a team-high three points.
The Williams defense held strong throughout the offensive onslaught and held Tufts without a goal until the game's final five minutes, when freshman forward Tyler Voigt deposited a late goal to spoil the Williams shutout.
Voigt's goal was the only blemish on a strong effort from Purdy, who finished the night with 28 saves on 29 shots in 60 minutes of play. For the Jumbos, goaltender Scott Barchard stopped 27 of 31 shots in 60 minutes of play.
"When you play against a good defensive team but especially an exceptional goalie, to get four goals was big for us tonight," added Kangas. "Hopefully we can build on this going into tomorrow against a good Connecticut College team."
Williams will take its undefeated record to New London, CT on Saturday to take on the Mules in another NESCAC matchup. Game time is 3 PM.
