Jumbos settle for tie

Last Sunday, the Jumbos traveled to UMass Dartmouth to face off against the Corsairs. After tying in three out of the previous four games against UMass, the Jumbos skated into overtime only to finish the evening in a 4-4 tie.

"We should have beat that team," senior co-captain Chris Martin said.

Coming off Thanksgiving break and playing in a rink smaller than the Jumbos are accustomed to, the team had trouble getting in sync during the early portion of the game.

After 16 minutes of little action, the Corsairs jumped on top 1-0 lead on a goal from UMass' Matt Beck. Less than two minutes later the Jumbos responded with a goal from junior Pat Byrne, tying the score 1-1 at the end of the first period.

The men continued to put pressure on the Corsairs, securing their first lead of the game during the second period on a power play shot from junior Jason Boudrow.

Despite the lead, the Jumbos allowed the Corsairs to remain in the game. UMass tied the score 2-2 midway through the second period and once again Tufts responded on a goal from Martin, his first of the season. Once again, the Corsairs answered Tufts goal with one of their own and the second period ended with the scored notched at 3-3.

It wasn't until the third period that the Jumbos began skating to the best of their abilities.

"That third goal put a fire in us," Martin said.

The Jumbos skated aggressively throughout the third period, when co-captain Mike Carceo scored his third goal of the season. Carceo rallied past the opponents on a shorthanded goal to put the Jumbos up 4-3 with 2:13 left in the game. Victory seemed inevitable for the Jumbos, yet the Corsairs refused to die quietly, and a power play resulted in a goal of their own, tying the game 4-4 and sending it into overtime.

In the end neither team was able to prevail, and the Jumbos recorded their fourth tie against UMass in the past five years.

"We easily could have won the game," coach Brian Murphy said. "Overall it was a decent effort, not a great one."

The biggest problem the Jumbos faced was their inability to convert scoring opportunities. Tufts managed 20 shots on goal, but as has been the case throughout the young season, it was unable to convert a high percentage of these chances. Focusing on power play scoring this week in practice, the team hopes to improve its scoring prowess by this weekend's games against New England College and Saint Anslem.

"They'll be a lot better competition than UMass Dartmouth for sure," Murphy said.

In order to play well against their upcoming opponents, the Jumbos need to regain the strength that carried them past St. Michael's in the season opener and created a good match-up against Norwich State as well.

"We're going to need to play the way we did that last weekend," Martin said.

Despite their lapse in playing style during the early parts of the game against UMass Dartmouth, the Jumbos are confident that they will be able to match-up well against New England College in their home opener on Friday night.

"We're more talented in every single position this season," Murphy said. "Right now we're playing okay, but we can play better than this."