Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2000

KELL NAMED ECAC NORTHEAST GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

MEDFORD – Sophomore goaltender Ian Kell (St. Paul, MN/St. Paul Academy) made a career-high 49 saves when the Tufts University hockey team traveled to Pennsylvania and beat Lebanon Valley College, 4-3, on Saturday. The effort earned Kell Goaltender of the Week honors for the ECAC’s Northeast Division.

Tufts went into the game looking to keep its perfect conference record alive. Lebanon Valley had won six straight games and brought a 15-2 overall record in to the game. Entering the last month of the season, it was an important game for two of the league’s top-tier teams.

The Jumbos played tough, with Kell as their backbone. He stopped 14 shots in the first, 21 in the second and 14 more in the third. Lebanon Valley, one of the top powerplay teams in the nation, scored twice on two-man advantages and was credited with a 52-30 edge in shots. After senior defenseman Pete Schieffelin (Jamestown, RI/Kimball Union) scored to give Tufts a 4-3 lead with 5:21 remaining, Kell made saves on two point-blank shots in the closing seconds to preserve the victory. Head coach Brian Murphy’s Jumbos improved to 6-0 in the ECAC Northeast and 8-4 overall.

"I’m very pleased that we were able to go down there and beat a tough team in their own rink," Murphy said. "Ian certainly deserves a lot of the credit. He played very well and allowed the rest of the guys to go out there and play with confidence."

In five league games, Kell is 5-0 with a 3.20 goals against average and .904 save percentage. In 11 games overall this season he is 7-4 with a 4.50 gaa and .868 save %. For his career, he is 16-8, 3.65 and .879.

Tufts sits third in the current ECAC standings with 12 points. They have league games at Curry Thursday (Feb. 3) and at first-place Fitchburg State on Saturday (Feb. 5) at Boston College.

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