Jumbos end five game slide

In another weekend at home facing league opponents Salem St. and Southern Maine, the hockey team finally ended its winless streak after five straight defeats. After stretching the streak to five games in a 6-5 loss against Salem St., the Jumbos rebounded on Saturday to score a 4-3 victory against Southern Maine, putting them back into the win column.

Against Southern Maine, the Jumbos were in control of the game for the majority of the competition. Jumping out to a 1-0 lead only five minutes into the first period on a goal from freshmen Remy Bickoff, the Jumbos offense continued on a roll for the rest of the game.

"how well controlled was the game"

Nearing the end of the first period the Huskies tied the score on a power play goal. Only four minutes later junior Pat Byrne put the Jumbos back on top with a lead that they would hold for the rest of the game.

After Byrne's goal put the team up 2-1, the men continued to pad their lead scoring twice in the second period as well. Junior Timm Schatz scored midway through the second period on an assist from freshmen Adam Dulaney-Winn. Eight minutes later, Byrne scored his second goal of the game on an unassisted play that put the Jumbos up 4-1.

It was in the third period when the Jumbos defense began to fall apart. .

"third period collapse"

With the Jumbos starting goalie Ben Crasper sidelined due to ??? freshman Matt Ninneman was used in his place to hold off the Huskies offense. After he performed well through the first two periods, allowing only one of five attempts on goal to pass in the first and stopping all seven shots in the second, Ninneman could not hold off a third period Huskies surge that resulted in 13 shots on goal.

"quote about Ninneman"

The freshmen goalie allowed three goals in the final twenty minutes as the Huskies pulled to within one with nearly eight minutes left to play. However, the Jumbos defense buckled down and held off another Husky shot to put a halt to the team's five game winless streak.

"It felt good to win."

The winless streak nearly came to an end on Saturday when the men surmounted a comeback against Salem St. in the third period to erase a 5-2 lead and send the game to overtime. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, Salem St. senior Wendell Richards was quick to recover his team's lead, scoring just 2:33 into overtime and sending the Jumbos home with a 6-5 loss.

After jumping out in front of the Vikings 1-0 early, the teams exchanged goals in the first period and the Jumbos ended up on top 2-1.

In the second period, Tufts seemed to crumble as the Vikings assault scored three goals while holding the Jumbos to the two goals they scored in period one. Ninneman was unable to hold off a Salem St. surge that began only 44 seconds into the second period to even the score at 2-2.

The charge for the Vikings continued as they scored twice more in the second period and early in the third period to give the team a comfortable 5-2 lead at the beginning of the final period.

Five minutes into the third period, the Jumbos began their comeback. The rush began with freshmen Matt McCarthy hitting a wrist shot into the net to bring the Jumbos within two. The Jumbos then continued to play physically to no avail for nine minutes. It was then that the team pulled within one after a Rotondi power play goal.

Less than three minutes later, senior co-captain Mike Carceo helped even the score as he passed to wide-open sophomore John Hurd on what would be the final goal of regulation. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, they couldn't carry their offensive momentum into overtime. The Vikings put an end to the game only two minutes into the extra period.