After a torrid 7-0 fall season, where every puck seemed to bounce its way, the last thing the men's hockey team wanted was a vacation. And unfortunately the break did cool the team off a bit, as the Jumbos lost their return to the ice against Wesleyan on Jan 9. The 7-6 shootout against the future NESCAC rival pitted Tufts against their toughest competition of the year.
"We were definitely rusty coming off of the long break," senior tri-captain Natan Obed said. "It's tough to go from playing every day to having a month off. Wesleyan is a decent team, but they are definitely a team that we should beat."
Entering the game, Tufts' defense was leading the ECAC Northeast in fewest goals allowed, but the speedy Cardinals were able break through the zone and find the net over and over again.
"We just didn't play good defense," senior tri-captain Scott Hayes said. "There were a couple of defense lapses, and it lead to some bad breaks. We scored six goals, so the offense was there - we just let up defensively. They were mistakes we couldn't make against a team like that."
"Wesleyan can score, they have decent goaltending, but there is nothing that overpowers us," Obed said. "We are not intimidated by the NESCAC teams. The league we are in now [ECAC Northeast] is physically tougher, so we have very good stick-handling skills."
The loss was disheartening, as it snapped a seven-game winning streak, and showed that the Jumbos, who were ranked 12th in the nation entering the game, were in fact mortal.
Next on the slate was a Jan. 11 showdown against a struggling Assumption team, which entered the game having scored only 21 goals during the entire season, compared to the Jumbos' 57. With the Jumbos' defense still not clicking, Assumption actually gave Tufts a run for its money, with the score tied 4-4 at the end of the second period. Clearly not on the top of his game, freshman goalkeeper Ben Crapser was pulled from the net during an Assumption power play and was replaced with senior Alex Scerbo. Scerbo held his ground in the face of the Assumption attack, and the Jumbos escaped with an 8-5 win.
"Scerbo came in and had some big saves," defenseman, senior Justin Picone said.
"Crapser is a great goalie for us, and everyone will have a bad night at some point," Obed added. "He is doing fine, and the team has great confidence in Scerbo."
During the victory, junior center Jason Boudrow tallied seven points (three goals, four assists), and currently leads all of Division III in scoring. Despite Boudrow's third-period heroics, which prevented what would have been an embarrassing loss, the team was discouraged about its sloppy play against a weak opponent.
"In the Assumption game, we were the better team, but we struggled," Picone said. "In the first two games, we had defensive lapses. The second half of the year is like a whole new season. Any momentum you had is lost."
The first two games left some serious doubts in the Jumbos' minds, as their previously impenetrable goalie gave up 12 goals in two games, after only relinquishing 15 in the previous seven games. After a day of practice, the Jumbos finally returned to typical form, in the 5-2 thumping of Western New England College on Jan 13. Crapser proved that his performance against Assumption was an aberration as he made 15 saves, and the potent Tufts' offense never let their opponents into the game.
"Crapser is doing fine," Hayes said. "He played a great game against New England. It's just something that happens to all goalies.
Back on track after a few rough games, the Jumbos are once again confident in their pursuit of the ECAC Northeast title. However, the Jumbos have their work cut out for them, as they will face the strongest opponents on the schedule in the upcoming weeks.
"We are doing fine," Hayes said. "We had a little lapse, and we just have to fight through. Since that loss, we have been picking up the intensity. We are still making a couple mistakes and we haven't been executing some of the systems, but if we keep up the intensity we should be ok."
The team will be focusing on team defense, the most glaring problem so far in their 9-1 campaign, where scoring goals has never been a problem.
"In the three games we scored at least five goals," Picone said. "Our team defense still needs some work though. Games are a lot different than practice. Lots of small unexpected things can happen, which lead to a goal by the other team. It just takes a little while to get back in the swing of things."
