Men's Ice Hockey Stevenson Athletic Communications

Special Teams Lift Stevenson to Early Lead in Win Against Tufts

REISTERSTOWN, Md. -- Stevenson men's hockey returned to the ice with a quick start, jumping out to an early lead as part of a 6-2 victory against Tufts on Friday night. 

Stevenson (5-2-1) scored three times on the power play with five different goal scorers in the victory. Tufts (0-3-1) dropped its third consecutive contest after surrendering a goal less than 15 seconds into the game. 

Liam McCanney and Austin Master registered three points each, two of four Mustangs with multiple points on the evening. 

  • Stevenson wasted little time getting on the board first as Anthony Starzi crashed in for a rebound attempt following a faceoff win just 12 seconds into the contest. From there, a series of penalties provided each squad multiple man advantages over the next few minutes. 
  • The Mustangs killed each penalty they were whistled for, while the power play went to work. While the Mustangs did not score on the first penalty, they maintained momentum and time in the zone. 
  • Less than one minute into another Tufts penalty, the Mustangs doubled their lead with Austin Master finding the back of the net off a slick feed from Ryan Patrick. Less than a minute later, Stevenson worked its advantage to 3-0 on a power-play marker from McCanney
  • Luke Benitez capped the first-period scoring for the Mustangs, with Brendan Rylott and Chad Watt picking up assists on the fourth goal. Tufts found the back of the net with the man advantage at 15:12 as the Jumbos trailed, 4-1. 

  • The second 20 minutes was more up and down with the level of physicality going up a notch. 
  • The Mustangs sent a flurry of activity toward the Tufts net in the opening five minutes of the period, with goalie Peyton Durand standing tall for the Jumbos. 
  • Stevenson received a big faceoff win by Master following an icing call and timeout, allowing Stevenson to clear the zone. 
  • The Mustangs continued their success in the faceoff dot on another penalty kill, while Ryan Kenny made some timely saves for the hosts. Despite the key faceoff victories, it was the Jumbos with a 26-24 advantage at the dot through two periods of play. 
  • Stevenson tilted the ice in its favor over the final five minutes of the period, ripping seven shots as the clock melted away. The Mustangs were whistled for tripping with just two ticks left on the second-period clock. 

  • Tufts brought some energy out of the locker room for the third period, starting with the carryover power-play chance. 
  • Stevenson swung momentum back in its favor with a Frank Vitucci marker at the 4:43 mark. Vitucci drove down the left side before snipping a shot beyond the glove hand of Durand. 
  • The Jumbos scored a breakaway shorthanded goal with just under eight minutes remaining. 
  • The Mustangs responded with the man advantage as Master converted for the Mustangs' sixth goal of the night and a commanding lead. 

  • Stevenson and Tufts were meeting for the first time on Friday. 
  • Stevenson had 11 different players record at least one point in the six-goal outburst. 
  • McCanney, Master and Aidan Graham each recorded multiple points in the opening period for Stevenson. 
  • McCanney finished with a +3 rating, also winning four of five faceoff chances for Stevenson. 
  • Master notched his second multi-goal game of the season, with his first coming on November 6 against Chatham. 
  • Kenny made 15 saves on the night for Stevenson, which held a 30-17 margin in shots. 
  • Stevenson went 2-for-2 on the power play in the opening period, while killing off several early penalties to surge ahead. 
  • The Jumbos had played just three games entering the weekend, including one on Tuesday in a limited stretch to open the season.