The hockey team dropped two games on the road over the weekend, concluding the 2001 portion of its season with a three-game slide. As they head into winter break, the Jumbos rest at 3-5 overall (2-3 NESCAC/ECAC East) with 15 regular season games remaining on their schedule.
The squad got a 0-9 thumping by St. Anselm's College on Saturday night on the heels of a close 5-7 loss to New England College the night before.
Against New England on Friday, the Pilgrims jumped to an early 2-0 lead, opening the scoring at 4:55 then adding a powerplay goal at 10:57. Freshman Matt Kniaz put the Jumbos on the scoreboard at 15:17 with a shorthanded goal, when he combined with sophomore Timm Schatz for his first goal of the season. Freshman Gino Rotondi followed suit less than a minute later, and evened the score on another shorthanded goal with assists from junior tri-captain Mike Carceo and sophomore Chris Martin. Rotondi has been a key scorer this season, with four goals and 11 assists in six games.
The team seemed to have built momentum heading into the first break, after Carceo gave the Jumbos a 3-2 lead at 19:05 on a powerplay. Sophomores Pat Byrne and John Hurd claimed the assist. Carceo, who was named the NESCAC co-player of the week last week, finished the semester with six goals and 11 assists, leading the team with 17 points.
But New England commanded the ice for the first five minutes of play in the second stanza, and regained the lead 4-3 with goals from freshmen Adam Wallace and senior tri-captain Pat Bryant. The Jumbos responded with two quick goals to take back the advantage a second time. Schatz led the way at 7:09 with help from his counterpart Kniaz, and freshman Brandon Hays scored 13 seconds later with his second goal of the season. Carceo and Martin dealt the assist.
But a minute later, New England brought the score to 5-5 when junior Matt Stack scored on the powerplay. The squads were faced with a stalemate in the third until Tufts was called for a five-minute major for cross-checking at 15:40. The Pilgrims were whistled at 16:23, which put the team on even ground, but neither team capitalized and the Jumbos remained shorthanded for the final minutes of play.
New England finally took advantage of the powerplay for the third time of the night, when Bryant slipped a shot past Tufts goalie Ben Crapser with 58 seconds to go for the game winner. Stack added yet another power play tally, an empty net goal, to provide some insurance.
Although the Jumbos came from behind twice during the match, Tufts could not vie with the Pilgrims 51-28 shooting advantage. Crapser, who finished the day with 44 saves, defended a tough third period, deflecting 23 shots. The sophomore splits ice time with senior Ian Kell, and holds a 2-2 record in net with 115 saves and a 6.22 GAA.
The squad returns to the ice Jan. 4 to battle the Middlebury Panthers and will have home ice advantage for the first four games of the semester.
