Western New England Captures Rutland Herald Invitational with 3-1 Victory over Tufts

Kleyman, Gollmer lead Golden Bears to third straight win

RUTLAND, Vt. (November 26, 2016) – Sophomore forward David Kleyman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted a three-point effort and sophomore goaltender Kevin Gollmer (Flourtown, Pa.) finished with 35 saves as the Western New England University ice hockey team captured the 2016 Rutland Herald Invitational with a 3-1 victory over Tufts University this evening at Spartan Arena.

Top Performers
• Kleyman scored the opener for the Golden Bears and assisted on each of Western New England's other two goals on his way to All-Tournament Team honors.
• Gollmer followed up Friday's 33-save shutout by stopping 35 of the 36 shots that came his way tonight, earning Tournament MVP accolades in the process.
• Senior captain Josh Twietmeyer (Weston, Fla.) and junior forward Matt Smethurst (Rexford, N.Y.) also found the back of the net, while sophomore defenseman Joe Mazza (East Longmeadow, Mass.) joined Kleyman and Gollmer on the All-Tournament Team.

Game Review
• Kleyman staked the Golden Bears to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when he got behind the Tufts defense and made a nifty move around junior goaltender Nik Nugnes (West Barnstable, Mass.), finishing at the near post for his second goal of the season.
• Freshman Ross DeLabreure (Derby, Vt.) netted the game-tying goal for the Jumbos at the 14:45 mark on a power play, before Western New England restored its lead less than a minute later with the help of a Tufts miscue. Twietmeyer streaked up the right wing and put a shot on goal, which Nugnes made a blocker save on, but a Jumbo defenseman inadvertently knocked the rebound into the net.  
• Smethurst extended Western New England's lead to two (3-1) 5:37 into the second period, when he came from behind to steal the puck from a Tufts defenseman in the Golden Bears' offensive zone and fired a wrist shot into the top corner of the net.
• Western New England had a golden opportunity to add to its lead midway through the second period with a 5-on-3 advantage, but Tufts successfully killed off the power play to keep its deficit at two.
• Gollmer shined in the third period, making 20 saves to preserve the win.  

Notes
• Tufts outshot Western New England 36-20, while the Golden Bears held a 35-31 edge in the faceoff circle.
• Western New England has now won three consecutive games for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign, when the Golden Bears won four straight from January 31-February 14.
• Gollmer totaled 68 saves over Western New England's two wins this weekend.
• With the win, the Golden Bears are back at the .500 mark (4-4-1) for the first time since November 10.
• Tufts, which is among teams receiving votes in the USCHO Division III Poll, entered tonight's action at 4-0 with a season-opening win over No. 14 Trinity, the 2014-15 NCAA champion.

Up Next
Western New England will look to keep rolling next Thursday at Becker, while Tufts (4-1) returns to action on Friday at Williams.