Huge weekend awaits hockey team

With inconsistency as its Achilles heel, the men's hockey team has no choice but to let old habits die and play their best hockey of the year in this weekend's games. Last weekend, the team lost at Babson 5-2 but rebounded to defeat hapless UMass-Boston 9-0 the next day. The Jumbos are facing off against Hamilton tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Malden Arena, and again tomorrow against Amherst at 3 p.m. The squad is only 1-3-2 at home this season.

As has been the theme for much of the year, these games are chances for redemption against NESCAC rivals who beat up on the Jumbos last season. To Hamilton and Amherst, the Jumbos lost 10-2 and 8-1, respectively, last season. But never has it been more important to put last season behind them and focus on the path ahead than right now. Hamilton is in fifth place in the NESCAC, only three points up on the 6-7-4 Jumbos, while the Jumbos are deadlocked with both Amherst and Williams in sixth place. Needless to say, the importance of these games cannot be understated.

"These are two of the most important games we've seen around here in a while," coach Brian Murphy said. "Depending on how we do, we could finish up anywhere from fifth to tenth in this conference. Four points this weekend would really give us a boost in our playoff push."

According to players, the Jumbos cannot afford to only win one game this weekend. While devoting their attention to one game at a time, they know they need to win both to help their playoff positioning.

"We control our own destiny, as opposed to last year where we had to hope for things to fall into place to even make the playoffs," sophomore defenseman Sean Hayes said. "These two games are definitely the biggest of the year, and arguably the biggest in Tufts hockey history."

Bold statements such as that will call for bold actions from a Jumbo team that has had trouble against teams that are statistically better. Besides their win against Williams, they have yet to beat a team with a better record. Such is the task tonight against Hamilton.

The Continentals come in with an 11-8-1 record, 8-6-1 in conference. They are near the upper/middle of the pack in nearly every major statistical category: fourth in scoring, fourth in scoring defense, fourth on the power play, and fifth on the penalty kill. On both ends of the ice, Hamilton has freshmen leading the charge. Forward Gus Katsuras leads his team and all NESCAC freshmen in scoring (27 points) and goalie Gabe Tash has posted a .914 save percentage (second in the NESCAC). The Jumbos know what they have to do to quell the success of these two fresh faces.

"Wins, especially against Hamilton, are going to come from the defense," Hayes said. "If we can hold them, we'll have a serious shot."

Aside from defense, the Jumbos fore check needs to take a step forward. Getting the puck in the other team's zones and keeping it there is an integral part of Coach Murphy's game plan.

"We've got some size and toughness up front, so when we get the puck deep we can cause problems for the other team," Murphy said. "We have to maintain consistency on our fore check."

While tomorrow's opponent coming into Malden Arena is a 6-11-3 Amherst team, the Jumbos are not in any position to take the Jeffs lightly. With a 6-7-2 conference record, the Lord Jeffs are deadlocked with the Jumbos. They are led by the leading scorer in the NESCAC, sophomore Beau Kretzman (30 points). But the problem has been a supporting cast for Kretzman, as no one else on the team has more than 18 points. The team's top goalie, senior Justin Jagher, is last in the NESCAC in every statistical category. The team is near the bottom in nearly every category as well.

But the fact of the matter is that all these statistics get thrown out the window once the puck is dropped. These games will come down to who shows up for sixty minutes. Plain and simple. And no one understands that more than the Jumbos.

"We have to play each game like everything's on the line, because that's the situation we're in," Hayes said. "We have to play our game."