Jumbos stumble at St. A's

The hockey team continued its post-Thanksgiving break struggles with a loss Friday night at St. Anselm College 7-3. The Jumbos fell to 1-4 (0-3 in NESCAC/ECAC East), while the Hawks moved to 4-1. Tufts' game scheduled for Saturday at New England College was postponed until Tuesday.

The Hawks had a sellout crowd of almost 1,100 to usher in the new Thomas F. Sullivan Arena on their campus in Manchester, New Hampshire. Early on, the Jumbos quieted the crowd on a goal 55 seconds into the first period from junior forward Gino Rotondi, his second of the year, assisted by fellow juniors John Hurd and tri-captain Jack Thompson.

After that quick strike, though, Tufts wouldn't have a shot for the next six minutes as St. Anselm proceeded to pelt senior goaltender Ben Crapser with 24 first period shots, two of which went in. In contrast, Tufts only had seven on St. A's goaltender Jim Merola at the end of one.

"We just haven't come together as a team yet," sophomore forward Matt McCarthy said. "We haven't been able to get all of us going at the same time, and that's frustrating."

While the rest of the squad has been lacking a bit of firepower, Hurd continued his hot start to the season, as he netted a power play goal at the eight minute mark of the second period, assisted by junior tri-captain Shawn Sullivan and Thompson. His tally pulled the Jumbos within one at 3-2. But the resilient Hawks added another before the second intermission and went into the locker room up 4-2.

St. A's came out shooting again in the third, as they netted two quick goals to give themselves a comfortable 6-2 lead. Then Hurd added another score at 13:44 of the third, assisted by senior tri-captain Pat Byrne. Through only five games, Hurd now leads the team with nine points (six goals, three assists) after his two goals and one assist performance Friday.

One silver lining to the loss was a new Tufts record for goalie Crapser. His 35 saves gave him 1,570 on his career, breaking the nine year old record held by alumnus Steve Tomasello (1990-1994). Putting a bit of a damper on the record was the fact that he was replaced after the sixth goal he gave up by sophomore Tim Kane, who ended up making seven saves on eight shots in his third period action.

"To help our goalies out, we have to work on our team defense," McCarthy said. "Not necessarily just the defensemen, but the forwards, as well, who are working in our defensive zone."

Overall, the seemingly overmatched Jumbos were out shot 49 to 20 by the Hawks, whom they had more luck with last season. In a home game at Malden Forum, Tufts tied the Hawks 3-3.

The Jumbos feel they need to get some kinks out at practice this week.

"We'll work on our coverage in front of our net and our forecheck," McCarthy said. "If we get those right, we should be OK."