Griffin's Hat Trick Boosts Jumbos

When the Jumbos need him, sophomore Brian Griffin always seems to pull through.

When his team's lead had dwindled to one goal early in the second half, Griffin single-handedly jumpstarted the Jumbo offense and put them the game out of Wesleyan's reach. His second half hat trick led the Jumbos to an important 11-7 victory over the Cardinals, pulling the Jumbos ahead of the Cardinals in the NESCAC race.

"He's our engine," Coach Mike Daly said. "I have so much respect for him as a worker and as a warrior."

Scoreless in the first half, the Jumbos' leading scorer Griffin showed how well he can take over a game. The sophomore incited and capped a three-goal run to give Tufts its' biggest lead of the contest and put them ahead 8-4 in the third. The Jumbos never looked back, holding a four-goal lead or better for the rest of the contest.

"We need the big runs," senior tri-captain Alex Kerwin said. "The runs are huge in helping us to stay ahead."

With the Jumbos clinging to a one goal lead early in the second half, Griffin used his speed to beat his man and easily drop in a goal behind Wesleyan goaltender Matt Wheeley, starting the Jumbos run.

Sophomore David Taylor was fouled, but managed to net the second goal of the run as the Jumbos went a man-up immediately after. Following a steal, Griffin satisfied his already primed fans with a goal to cap the run and put the Jumbos ahead by their largest lead to that point.

The win puts the Jumbos in excellent position for home-field advantage for the upcoming NESCAC playoffs. Wesleyan drops out of what had been a three-way tie for second between with Tufts and Amherst.

"In my four years we've never had a home playoff game," Kerwin said. "It would be huge to get that."

Along with his two goals, junior middie Matt Malatesta won several important face-offs to keep the momentum going down the stretch.

"Mal is doing great," Daly said. "He's been doing a great job all year. He had a huge goal off the faceoff. It was a big answer. The face-off was especially important to keep the possession. We have to earn the ball back each time."

After two miscues in the first quarter, the Jumbos improved in clearing the ball from previous contests. The middies' cleaner play put the pressure on the Cardinal defense.

"Our clearing game improved 100 percent for the whole game," Griffin said. "We had more settled possesions and we kept getting a lot of the same looks. It also helped the defense to get more confident."

Switching from man-to-man early to a zone to protect the lead, sophomore goalie Luke Chicco and the Jumbo defense proved effective. Chicco turned away 16 shots and avoided many other goals that narrowly missed the net. He continues his dominance in goal, turning away almost 70 percent of the shots.

The Jumbos took their first three goal lead after a 15 minute scoring drought in the second quarter. Griffin rounded the goal and threaded a pass from behind to senior Chris Kollar to give the Jumbos a 5-2 lead. The deficit proved too much for the Cardinals, as they would only come within one once before Griffin took over.

With the Jumbos' third consecutive victory, the squad improved to 9-3 on the year and 6-2 in the NESCAC. The Jumbos narrowly defeated Williams and Bates by a combined difference of two goals this past week before the scoring onslaught led to the impressive victory over Wesleyan. The Jumbos look to continue their winning ways against Connecticut College on Saturday. The team gets no break before the playoffs however, with its first contest set to take place on Sunday.

"Homefield advantage is huge," Griffin said. "It is especially good to see a lot of fans come out and support you."