Ice Hockey finishes weekend with split results

Rounding off another weekend with a win and a loss, the men's hockey team now moves to a 6-7-4 record that puts them in a precarious position going into this upcoming weekend. Currently tied with Williams, one point above Amherst and one below Hamilton the team now needs victories against both upcoming opponents to ensure themselves good standing in the playoffs.

"Next weekend is potentially the biggest weekend in Tufts hockey history for the playoffs," senior co-captain Mike Carceo said.

The Jumbos slightly helped their own cause with a blowout win on Saturday against the UMass Boston Beacons. Facing a winless Beacons team, the Jumbos had four players score a pair of goals on their way to a 9-0 trouncing that dropped the team to 0-17-2 overall and 0-14-1 in ECAC play.

"It felt good to get a blow-out win," Carceo said. "We've spent a lot of time on the other side of the stick."

"We'd been on the receiving end of those games a lot last year and it feels good to be on the giving end," senior co-captain Chris Martin echoed.

Sophomore Shawn Sullivan was the first to draw blood as he scored only one minute into the contest. A mere two minutes later junior Pat Byrne scored, followed only 49 seconds later by freshman Adam Dulaney-Winn's goal to put the team up 3-0.

The Jumbos roll continued as the team put offensive pressure on the Beacons throughout the afternoon. At one moment Beacon goalie junior Craig Pasteur was forced to make ten saves in a span of 29 minutes.

On the other side of the ice, freshman Matt Nineman played two periods making 15 saves only to be relieved by freshman Tim Kane who held onto the shut out. In the end, the Jumbos improved their record to 6-7-4 overall moving them into sixth place in the standings tied with Amherst.

Though the team does not want to get too excited about their victory over a struggling team, the blow-out, feel good victory may be just what the Jumbos need going into this weekend.

"Hopefully Saturday is a momentum builder," Carceo said.

The Jumbos momentum unfortunately only began on Saturday though as the team faced a difficult loss on Friday against a much stronger Babson team.

Facing a 12-5-3 Beavers team, the Jumbos knew they would need a much more solid effort in order to emerge victorious. After finishing the first period tied 1-1 with the Beavers, a second period onslaught where Babson scored four goals plunged the Jumbos into a deficit the team could not overcome.

Scoring three unanswered goals in the opening minutes of the second period, the Jumbos' attempts at a comeback were smothered by the Beaver's defense.

The team only took six shots in the second period but with 12 in the third, junior goalie Craig Werner helped his team stay ahead blocking 26 goals overall.

"Their goalie made a bunch of amazing saves on us that really killed us," Carceo said.

Along with a stifling defense, the Jumbos were unable to capitalize on power play opportunities finishing the day 0-5 on power-play opportunities. In contrast to Babson's ability to capitalize going 3-4 on power-play opportunities, the Jumbos attempts were not enough to overcome the Beavers.

"They were a good team, we knew that coming in," Carceo said. "They got a couple good opportunities and we didn't capitalize on ours."

The Beavers also had several lucky breaks that helped them achieve their win.

"We weren't getting any calls or any bounces and we knew we'd have to battle," Martin said. "And they got lucky shots and rebounds."

The inability to convert on power plays is nothing new for the Jumbos as the team has gone 1/12 in the three games before playing the Beavers. This lack of capitalizing on opportunities is a problem the team knows it needs to address before the upcoming weekend.

"We gotta get our power play going. We've been getting a lot of opportunities and we're not doing anything," Carceo said.

Martin agrees. "I really don't know what's wrong with our power play," he said. "We need to shoot more, maybe get more people in front of the net."

Gaining offensive momentum is what will be most important this upcoming weekend. The team will put their efforts to the test again on Friday night on the home ice against Hamilton and also Saturday against Amherst in must-win situations.

"We gotta play our game and be physical," Carceo said.

"It's a must win weekend," Martin said.