Malden, Mass. -- The visiting Trinity College Bantams won their third straight game and their fourth in the last five games, 4-1, at the Tufts University Jumbos in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's ice hockey action at Valley Forum II this evening.

The Bantams are currently fourth in NESCAC with a 12-6-2 overall record and a 9-4-2 league mark. Tufts remained in eighth place with records of 9-8-3 overall and 5-7-3 in the league. The victory was the fourth in row for Trinity against Tufts.

Trinity dominated the first period and came out of it with a 2-0 lead. Earning a 19-5 advantage in shots, they got goals from junior Matthew Quigley (Pittsburgh, Pa.) at 4:28 and from sophomore Sean McCarthy (Duxbury, Mass.) at 14:06.

The Bantams increased their advantage to 3-0 at 9:04 of the second period when senior captain Richard Hollstein (Pembroke, Mass.) was wide open in the slot to take a pass from behind the net and bury it. However, just 49 seconds later, Tufts junior Zach Diaco (Rumson, N.J.) scored his fourth goal of the weekend to stem the Bantams' momentum. In the slot, Diaco spun around and beat Trinity goalie Wesley Vesprini (Lexington, Mass.) inside the left post.

In the third period, Tufts had a golden opportunity to cut into the Bantam lead with a five-on-three power play for 1:17. Trinity killed it off though, and Vesprini was sharp throughout the period in the Trinity goal. Tufts played 2:51 late in the game with an empty net and the Bantams added a goal by freshman Michael DiCenso (Greenville, R.I.) with 40 seconds left to wrap it up.

Vesprini saved all 12 Tufts shots in the third and had 27 saves for the game. Jumbo sophomore Scott Barchard (Reading, Mass.) stopped 44 shots and had an assist on the Tufts goal. The loss stopped a three-game unbeaten streak by the hosts.  Though 19 penalties were whistled, neither team scored a power-play goal out of 13 combined opportunities.

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