Despite loss, hockey team makes strides

The roller coaster ride that has been the hockey team's season came to an abrupt conclusion on Saturday night as the powerful Middlebury Panthers dealt the Jumbos a 7-1 defeat in the NESCAC quarterfinals. Putting the loss aside, though, the fact that the Jumbos were even present in the NESCAC playoffs is something they can hang their hats on.

"Going into the season, our goal was to make the playoffs, and we accomplished that goal," said senior co-captain Mike Carceo, who along with senior co-captain Chris Martin played in his final collegiate game on Saturday.

After last year's 6-17 campaign, in which the Jumbos finished last in their first year playing in the NESCAC, almost anything would have been an improvement this season. With most of their talent coming back, the Jumbos came into this year reinvigorated.

The team knew it was a different season after playing both Norwich and Colby tough and beating the likes of Hamilton and Williams.

"We went out and won some games this year that we wouldn't have even had a shot at last year," Carceo said. "The wins against Williams and Hamilton stand out. We knew we could play with anyone in the league this year, and that wasn't the case last year."

The problem is that knowing you can play with everyone and actually doing it, night in and night out, are two completely different things. While 7-11-4 is an improvement over 6-17, the team knows that it could have made bigger strides this season than it did.

Inconsistency plagued the Jumbos, as a three game win streak in January was the one blip on the radar screen amidst a sea of losses and ties. The Jumbos point to defense as being the biggest key.

"Next year, they are going to have to work better at the defensive aspect of the game," Carceo said. "In our league, we can't allow four to five goals a game and expect to win."

The improvement from last year to this year has been vast, both offensively but more importantly defensively. While last year's squad gave up a whopping 144 goals, this year version held opponents to 100 in 22 games. While such a statistic doesn't paint the Jumbos as an elite team, it certainly affirms that they have become respectable again. In addition, they scored 87 goals as opposed to 76 last year, and in one fewer game.

Sophomore forward Shawn Sullivan showed the most offensive improvement, as he led the way with 32 points, 12 points better than a year ago. Junior forward Pat Byrne stepped his game up as well, notching 22 points as opposed to the 16 he had last season.

"It seems like some guys on this team are proud of the season while others are disappointed," Martin said. "Some are disappointed, but there are a lot of statistics that show we improved this season."

Carceo echoed those sentiments.

"I think this year proved that we are not the doormat of this league. Next year these guys will be right in the thick of the NESCAC race, if not at the top."

Carceo's prediction may hold some water, as he and Martin are the only players the team will lose to graduation. With the rest of the squad intact, and with lessons learned from this year's experience, it not entirely out of the question to believe the Jumbos will be battling for the NESCAC championship next season.