Hockey team finishes disappointing weekend with a loss and tie

Skating on its home ice for the first time this weekend, the hockey team faced tough competition in Friday night and Saturday's games against New England College and St. Anslem. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, this weekend's competition couldn't be overcome, as the team dropped the first game and tied in yesterday's match-up.

The games caused the team's record to drop to 1-2-2 on the season.

"They were what we expected and they weren't the best competition we've faced all season," senior co-captain Chris Martin said. "We definitely should have beaten both of them."

After leading St. Anslem for much of the game, it was in the third period where the Jumbos fell apart. Jumping out 1-0 on the Hawks, Tufts freshmen Remy Bickoff scored the first period's lone goal. During the second period the action began to heat up, as several goals were exchanged ending in a 3-2 Tufts lead.

Despite holding the lead, the Jumbos missed several opportunities to widen the gap, as it failed to score on four different powerplays. It was these missed opportunities that came back to haunt the team as a fortuitous St. Anslem goal took away what should have been a Jumbos victory.

Halfway through the third period, Hawks junior tri-captain Ryan Nolan scored on a powerplay goal that would send the game to overtime.

"We had the lead and they got a lucky goal," senior co-captain Mike Carceo said. "Once again, we just didn't want it bad enough in the third period."

Tied 3-3, the Hawks and the Jumbos battled hard in overtime. Jumbos junior goalie Ben Crasper saved six goals while the Hawks goalie saved three of his own. In the end, the Jumbos were unable to pull out a victory and are now headed into the semester break without a victory since their season opener.

Playing in their home opener on Friday night, the same problems present in the Hawks game plagued the Jumbos against New England College. The two teams opened the game with high intensity, as they picked up nine penalties in the first period alone. Playing aggressively against a young Pilgrim squad, the Jumbos looked like the stronger team early on.

"Everybody was excited for our first home game," Carceo said. "We knew they'd have tired bus legs so we wanted to jump onto them quickly."

The Jumbos were the first to draw blood only five minutes into the period as sophomore Shawn Sullivan recorded his season's first goal. It wasn't until ten minutes later that the Pilgrims answered back with a goal of their own.

The intensity continued in the second period, as New England took its first lead of the game only four minutes in. The Jumbos quickly responded on a powerplay goal from Bickoff. The two teams continued to trade off goals, each scoring two times in this period, which sent them into the final stage tied 3-3.

After playing strong against the Pilgrims for much of the game, the Jumbos came out flat against New England in the third period, allowing their opponents to score three times. The Jumbos responded quickly to the Pilgrims first goal on their second powerplay goal of the game, this score coming from the hands of Carceo. With the game tied at 4-4, instead of regaining the lead, the Jumbos fell flat and let the game slip away to the Pilgrims. Once again missing several powerplay scoring opportunities, New England College sealed their victory with two goals only minutes apart in the period's 7th and 8th minutes.

"We were all over them the whole game and there were those few minutes we fell apart," Martin said.

The Jumbos blame their woes on the inability to convert on powerplay opportunities. Despite the two goals scored by Bickoff and Carceo, the Jumbos wasted numerous opportunities on both Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

"The powerplay is struggling a bit and it's definitely an area we need to work on over the break," Carceo said.

Along with the numerous squandered scoring opportunities, it was the third period of both games where the Jumbos let victory slip away.

"We just lacked the intensity in the third period," Martin said. "We need to work on our intensity. We've got to be hungry when we go out there."

Heading into semester break, the Jumbos will have numerous practices to work on scoring and intensity. They won't face another opponent until Jan. 10, when it opens their NESCAC season squaring off against Middlebury.