Malden, Mass. – The Trinity College men's hockey team, ranked No. 11 in the country, fell to the Tufts University Jumbos, 3-1, on Friday night in both teams' season opener at a packed Valley Forum in Malden, Massachusetts. Trinity moves to 0-1 to start the season while Tufts starts out 1-0.  

Trinity's penalty kill unit got to work early after the Bantams were whistled for a high stick just eight minutes into the opening period. The Bantam defense held strong and kept Tufts off the scoreboard before a Jumbo hooking penalty gave the visitors a skater advantage. Not to be outdone, Tufts' penalty kill unit did their share and kept the game scoreless despite being down a skater. With less than two minutes remaining in the first period, senior forward Brandon Cole (Anchorage, Ak.) fired a wrist shot that beat Tufts goalie Mason Pulde (Lexington, Mass.) to the top corner of the net to put the Bantams up 1-0. Trinity junior goaltender Alex Morin (St. Hubert, Quebec) saw his fair share of action, making nine saves in the first frame, as the Bantams entered the first intermission with a one goal advantage.

Tufts answered 6:01 into the second period when first-year Cooper Stahl (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) sent a wrister towards net that knuckled past Morin's blocker, tying the game at one goal apiece. Trinity nearly reclaimed the lead on a power play with just under five minutes remaining in the second period when junior Anthony Sabitsky (Sicklerville, N.J.) had a clean look at net, but his shot missed wide to no avail. Despite a flurry of shots by the Jumbo attack in the final minute, Trinity's defense held stout as the score remained 1-1 after two periods.

Tufts earned an elbowing penalty just seven seconds into the third period but the Jumbos defense staved off Trinity's attack to keep the game knotted at one. Trinity's relentless attack kept pressure on Pulde but the Jumbo defense answered everything the Bantams threw at them. Later, with 17 seconds left on a Tufts power play and 2:59 to play in the third, Brian Brown (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) stuffed a loose puck into the back of the net past Morin to give the hosts a late, 2-1 lead. Brown added his second goal of the game with just under a minute to play after Trinity pulled Morin to gain an extra skater, dumping the puck into the empty net and icing the 3-1 victory for Tufts.

Trinity returns to action tomorrow when they travel to New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) opponent Connecticut College for a 3 p.m. puck drop.