Hamilton College's Rory Gagnon '19 recorded the second hat trick of his career and the Continentals defeated the Tufts University Jumbos 4-2 at Hamilton's Russell Sage Rink on Saturday afternoon.

Hamilton (7-6-1, 5-3-1 NESCAC) swept its NESCAC weekend after defeating Connecticut College 7-4 on Friday night. The victory moves the Continentals up to fifth place in the conference standings. Tufts (5-9-0, 2-6) has lost three straight games and has been outscored 19-5 during that stretch.

The Jumbos could have jumped out to 3-0 lead but Anthony Tirabassi '20 (26 saves) was a brick wall through the first 20 minutes. At 5:38 in the first period, Brendan Ryan raced into Hamilton's zone and made a short pass to Edward Hannon for a one-timer, but Tirabassi slid across the crease for a leg save. Two minutes later, Rune Kirby ripped a slap shot from the point. Tirabassi slid to his right to make the first save and the rebound bounced to his left for a wide-open look for Clay Berger, but Tirabassi made a diving stop. Tirabassi came up big again at 11:46 when Nick Schultze fired a slap shot from the point that bounced off a defender and Tirabassi just managed to get his blocker in the way.

Hamilton gained a 1-0 lead at 13:35 of the first when Gagnon notched his first of the game. Nick Rutigliano '21 fed the puck up to Jason Brochu '19 speeding through the neutral zone. Brochu and Gagnon did a little give-and-go and Gagnon wristed a shot past Josh Sarlo (33 saves) inside the near post.

Anthony Farinacci tied the score for the Jumbos at 13:56 in the second. Cory Gottfried quickly fed the puck to Blake McIntyre at the near blue line. McIntyre passed across the ice to Farinacci who took the defender one-on-one and tucked the puck past Tirabassi's outstretched leg.

The Continentals took advantage of two Jumbo penalties during the final two minutes of the second period as it was Rutigliano, Brochu and Gagnon again with 36 seconds left. Rutigliano moved through the high slot and passed to Brochu at the back post. Brochu sent a bullet pass through the crease to Gagnon who whipped the puck into the nylon.

Gagnon and Justin Felhaber '21 added back-to-back empty-net goals at 17:54 and 18:22 of the third period. Tufts' Gottfried scored off a faceoff to the right of Tirabassi with 13 seconds remaining.

Hamilton hits the road for a NESCAC game against Amherst College on Friday, Jan. 18 at 5 p.m.