Hockey faces tough opponents over weekend

With three games already under its belt, the hockey team is looking to improve upon its 1-1-1 record. After a somewhat disappointing 4-4 tie at UMass-Dartmouth last Sunday, the squad has its sights set on picking up wins this weekend in two crucial NESCAC/ECAC East games.

The team hosts New England College tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Malden Arena and welcomes St. Anselm College to town Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

"Against UMass-Dartmouth, we had a few let downs," sophomore forward John Hurd said. "We didn't play 60 minutes of hockey."

The letdowns were evident as the Corsairs of UMass-Dartmouth came back to tie the game on three separate occasions. Most damaging however, was a power play goal that came off the stick of the Corsairs' Shawn Sheehan with 1:32 remaining in regulation. Overtime proved fruitless for both teams and the result was a tie.

On paper, the Jumbos were outplayed. Out shot 32-24, they went only one for five on the power play, and gave up two power play goals. But statistics don't always tell the whole story.

"While we didn't come out as intense as we would have liked, by the time the third period rolled around we were more intense than they were," senior co-captain and team scoring leader Mike Carceo said.

While they haven't yet exploded offensively, the Jumbos have been solid on both ends of the ice. The team has scored fourteen goals in three games, an average of 4.3 a game. With Carceo (6 points), sophomore forward Gino Rotondi (5 points), junior forward Jason Boudrow (4 points) and sophomore forward Shawn Sullivan (4 points) leading the way, Tufts has been efficient on offense.

Defensively there have been a few lapses, but the team could not ask for much more out of senior co-captain Chris Martin and the rest of the blue-liners. Junior goaltender Ben Crapser has also been steady, with a 3.89 goals against average and a .898 save percentage.

The Jumbos will need to play some of their best hockey tonight as they face a powerful offensive force in New England College. NEC beat Tufts last year, 7-5, in a tight, hard fought game.

"I feel we should have beaten these guys last year," Hurd said. "It was up and down the whole game and we lost in the last minute."

Although the Pilgrims are only 2-2-0, they have scored 22 goals, an average of 5.5 per game. This includes an 8-3 thrashing of St. Anselm's, the Jumbos opponent tomorrow. New England College is led by junior forward Travis Banga, who already has 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists). Also helping the Pilgrims' cause are freshman forwards Jeff Vandyke and Jeremy Koning, who each have 10 and 9 points, respectively.

"We'll have to concentrate defensively against NEC," Carceo said. "They strike quick and score a lot of goals. A win against them would make life a lot easier going into Saturday's game with St. Anselm."

Though they are only 1-3-1, the St. Anselm is another squad the Jumbos cannot afford to take lightly. One only has to look at last years lopsided 9-0 Hawks win as evidence.

"That was one of our worst games last year," Hurd said. "We're going to be fired up to get another crack at these guys."

Senior forward Jeff Kuhn and sophomore forward John Cron lead the Hawks offense, each with three points. Sophomore goalie Jim Merola has seen a lot of rubber flying at him, as evidenced by the 159 shots opponents have had on him. He has a respectable 3.96 goals against average and a .881 save percentage.

"For these two games, we are going to have to play within the system," Hurd said. "We can't sit back once we have a lead. We have to keep momentum going. And if they score, we'll have to bounce back and regain the momentum."

Carceo was optimistic about his team's chances.

"If we go out and play as hard as we did two weeks ago [vs. St. Michael's and Norwich], we should come out winners this weekend," he said.