SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's hockey team will play for its fourth straight Skidmore Thanksgiving Invitational title after advancing with a 3-1 win over Tufts University on Saturday afternoon.
 

• The unbeaten and nationally 15^th-ranked Thoroughbreds (7-0-1) will play against SUNY Brockport in the championship game Sunday at 4 p.m.
• The Golden Eagles later defeated #10 Salve Regina, 3-2, to move on. Tufts and Salve Regina will square off at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
• Cooper Rice, Jaden York, and Jack Strauss were the goal scorers for the Thoroughbreds against Tufts.
• Assists went to Kaeden Patrick, Bryson Russell, Nick Cozzi, Danny Magnuson, and Zach Frisk.
• Tate Brandon posted 20 saves and was particularly solid early on to keep the Skidmore ship afloat. Brandon's shutout streak ended at 233:07 with a Tufts third-period goal. He had stopped each of the 94 previous shots that he saw.
• After a scoreless first period, Cooper Rice connected for his first-career goal at the 7:11 mark of the middle period on a 3-on-2 rush in transition. Patrick and Russell assisted.
• It was 2-0 Skidmore with 2:20 left in the second period after a Tufts defenseman fell and another overskated the puck in the corner allowing Cozzi to intercept it and find York alone in the slot for a one-timer.
• The Jumobs cut the deficit in half with 5:47 remaining in regulation on a broken play that led to Max Resnick finding the puck on his stick for an open writer from just outside the hash mark on the right side. Harrison Bazianos assisted.
• Strauss finished off a passing play between him, Magnuson, and Frisk to score on the empty net with under a minute left for the 3-1 final.
• Both teams were unable to score in six combined power play opportunities. Skidmore was 0-for-4 on the afternoon, and Tufts was 0-for-2. The Jumbos got a pair of shorthanded breakaway chances in the first period. Brandon stopped one of them, and the shot whistled high on the other.
• Shots overall were 38-21 Skidmore. Tufts' Peyton Durand had 35 saves.

NEXT UP: Skidmore and Brockport will play for just the second time since 2008 tomorrow for the title. The Thoroughbreds defeated the Golden Eagles, 5-2, in the first round of the tournament in 2019. Skidmore's three consecutive championships feature finals wins over Oswego State (2022, 4-1), Connecticut College (2021, 1-0), and Tufts (2019, 4-2). Brockport won the Skidmore Thanksgiving Invitational in 2009 with wins over University of New England (5-0) and Nichols College (6-3).