Two days of conference play for Tufts men’s ice hockey ended in triumph with a 2–0 win over No. 10 Trinity on Saturday following a frustrating loss to Wesleyan on Friday. Tufts’ defense stole the show in both contests, culminating in a first career shutout for junior goalie Gus Bylin and Trinity’s first scoreless outing of the season. The opening game of the weekend against the Cardinals ended in a 2–0 loss for the Jumbos, but the deluge of shots on goal and face-off dominance by the Jumbos set the tone for success in Saturday’s ranked matchup. Tufts notched 49 shots on goal to Wesleyan’s 20 but just couldn’t manage to find the back of the net. Wesleyan’s goalie Patrick McDevitt put on a highlight-reel performance to defend the tidal wave of Tufts shots, and an early power play goal held up as the game-winner. Senior forward Tyler Sedlak added six shots to the Jumbos’ high total and commended the defensive effort but recognized where the offense fell short against the Cardinals.
“It wasn’t a defensive issue for us. At the end of the day, they scored one goal and an empty-netter, so for us, it was more so that we just couldn’t find a way to score,” he said. “We were shooting too far from the outside, and we weren’t getting enough traffic or bodies to the net to cause disruption for their goalie, which made it a little easier on him than we originally planned.”
Ahead of facing the reigning NESCAC champion Trinity on Saturday, the Tufts squad discussed adjustments to limit offensive rushes and breakaway chances for Tufts. The focus on tightening up the defensive game while maintaining consistent offensive pressure as they did against the Cardinals proved successful for the Jumbos. Junior forward Max Resnick opened the scoring off an assist from Sedlak with under two minutes left in the first period, giving Tufts momentum heading into the first intermission. The Jumbos’ offense cashed in again early in the second period after a defensive miscue by a Bantam defenseman, who deflected a hard pass from Jumbos junior forward Brendan Fennell toward the net and past Bantams goalie Devon Bobak. The third period ticked down with no score from either team. Tufts held on to the 2–0 lead to take the win, snapping an eight-game losing streak against Trinity which included a loss in the 2024 NESCAC title game. Tufts controlled not only the offense but the emotional tone of the game as well, maintaining composure while Trinity’s frustration mounted.
“It’s kind of gotten to a point where we’ve lost to [the Bantams] so many times in a row that we knew we had to change something. … So we wanted to commit to a little bit more of the defensive side of it and limit their chances and then rely on our scoring to just produce as normal,” Sedlak explained. “They didn’t have as many grade-A chances, and for them, that’s frustrating because they’re so used to doing that every time they play. And to frustrate them and for us to kind of get momentum and energy off of that was extremely important.”
The weekend also marked a breakout performance for Bylin, who spent much of the early season fighting for playing time and grinding through uncertainty as the team was a bit slow to get rolling. He showed up in a big way in important games against conference opponents, saving 18 of 20 shots faced against Wesleyan and making 24 saves to hand Tufts its first shutout of the season.
“First career shutout for Gus and the first time that team has been shutout all year, so that was very important, especially from a confidence standpoint for Gus,” Sedlak said. “We know how good Gus could be, and I think that he just needed a weekend like this and a game like Saturday to get his confidence back up, which was great. He made huge saves and did everything that you could ever ask for from a goalie.”
More conference action awaits as Tufts gears up to face Middlebury and Williams on the road this upcoming weekend. The Jumbos head to Vermont first to face the Panthers in some Friday night ice action and then make their way to Williamstown, Mass. for a matinee contest against the Ephs the next day. The focus of practice for the Jumbos is creating more scoring opportunities in transition to make more noise offensively, and the Ephs matchup offers another chance to take some revenge.
“We’ve historically had offensive success against Middlebury, so we’ll try to watch that and see what we’ve done well against them in the past,” Sedlak said. “Williams beat us early in the year, so we owe them one. We’ll focus on that one after we take care of Friday’s game first.”