The hockey team snapped its eight-game losing streak, which dated back to Jan. 18, with a come-from-behind, 7-2 thumping of Plymouth State in Waterville Valley, NH on Tuesday. Tufts' record now stands at 5-16 overall and 3-14 in the NESCAC/ECAC East, while Plymouth State drops to 5-13-1 and 5-8 in the ECAC East.
"It was probably one of the better hockey related feelings I've had in a long time," sophomore forward Timm Schatz said. "It was like a huge weight lifted off our shoulders."
The host Panthers appeared to have control early. They jumped out to 2-0 lead in the game's first four minutes, and the Jumbos appeared to be headed down a familiar road: defeat.
"At that point, we all knew that what was happening should not be happening," Schatz said. "And because of what had happened in the past, there's always that feeling in the back of your head of 'Oh no, not again.' But we didn't let it happen again; we did something about it."
A mere two minutes later, the Jumbos began a scoring barrage that produced seven unanswered goals, including three power play scores and a short-handed tally, and a four goal outburst in the second period alone.
Freshman forward Bryan Conti put Tufts on the scoreboard at 5:34 of the opening period with his first collegiate goal on assists from Schatz and sophomore forward Matt Spang. The two squads then battled through nearly 20 minutes of play with no scoring, before another freshman forward, John Hurd, made it a 2-2 game when he finished a feed from junior co-captain Mike Carceo at 4:54 in the second period.
From then on, it was all Tufts. Freshman forward Gino Rotundi gave the Jumbos the lead for good at 9:14 when he put home his eighth goal of the season. Hurd then followed with a pair of power play goals, one at 11:27 and another at 14:37, to complete the hat trick before the end of the middle frame and push the lead to 5-2. For the season, Hurd has now recorded seven power play goals.
"Going into the second period losing basically just lit a bonfire underneath us," Schatz said.
After another long scoring drought that covered most of the third, Carceo squelched a Plymouth State power play when he added an unassisted short-handed goal at 16:10. Carceo, who also recorded three assists on the night, is currently tied with Hurd for the team lead with 13 goals. He also leads Tufts with 22 assists and 35 points.
Junior forward Matt Potts then capped off the game's scoring in the final minute, with assists going to junior forward Dan Geary and sophomore forward Dan Coleman.
Sophomore Ben Crapser earned the victory after turning back 34 shots, while senior Jeremy Zuniga played the final two minutes and was credited with two saves of his own. In 12 starts, Crapser is now 3-8-0 with an .844 save percentage. Their Plymouth State counterparts, Mike Mansson and Larry Forgue, combined to make 18 saves.
Tufts will now gear up for its final games of the regular season this weekend, both which will come against NESCAC foes, with a renewed sense of optimism. "Going into the last weekend losing nine straight games, it would be hard to go into a game thinking positive thoughts," Schatz said. So getting one right before you get the last week of the season makes it all the more exciting as we try to end on a positive note."
Wesleyan will be at the Malden Forum for a 7:30 p.m. match-up on Friday night, while Trinity will be in town for a 4 p.m. game on Saturday.
