The ice hockey team was given a second chance at its season last weekend when it found out, right before its 2-0 shutout of the Wesleyan Cardinals, that the Cardinals' athletic director forced his team to drop out of the playoffs, citing disciplinary reasons.
The result? The Jumbos get to play in the postseason, which starts tomorrow when the squad faces off against the number one seeded Middlebury Panthers in Vermont.
The Panthers have been the top seed for four straight seasons, winning the NESCAC crown in three of those seasons. The squad is currently ranked second in the nation with a 21-3-0 record, and is heading into the Tufts game coming off a commanding 6-2 victory over the nation's number one squad, the Norwich Cadets, who defeated Tufts 9-4 in the opening game of the this season's campaign.
"It's a great opportunity for us to go up to Vermont and play in one of the best atmosphere's in all of college hockey," coach Brian Murphy said. "It's going to be a sellout crowd of close to 3000 people, and it's going to be exciting to play in a Div. I atmosphere."
The Jumbos, however, are also coming into the game with some momentum, earning their first shutout and fourth league win of the season against Wesleyan last weekend, notching two goals on Wesleyan all-American goalie Jim Panczykowski.
The Jumbos defense will have to play the game of its life if it wants to have any shot at ousting the Panthers, who have won the past two games over Tufts 12-2 earlier this year, and 7-1 in last years NESCAC quarterfinals.
"Obviously this game is going to be a big challenge for us," Murphy said. "But our guys are excited to go up there and give it their best shot. Hey, stranger things have happened, and that's why we play this game."
The defensive unit will be led by junior tri-captain John Van Pelt and sophomores Jack Thompson and Zak Smotherman. The squad will likely focus most of its attention on Panthers senior forward and reigning NESCAC Player of the Week Kevin Cooper. Cooper leads the NESCAC and the Panthers with 42 points this season, coming off of 27 goals and 15 assists.
When asked how he plans to contain Cooper, Murphy had one, simple response.
"I'm going to wake up early on Saturday morning and go to church," Murphy said, "and pray."
The squad overall averages 5.21 goals per game and 7.38 assists per game while only allowing 1.7 goals per game, all good for tops in the NESCAC.
Jumbo senior net minder Ben Crapser will need to amass his second superb game in a row for the Jumbos to have any shot at a victory. The Paxton, Mass., native has been solid this year, allowing 4.75 goals per game, with an 88.9 percent save percentage.
"We've been working all week on just trying to continually become a better defensive hockey team," Murphy said. "Our goal is to keep them on perimeter, and at the same time bury our opportunities when we get them."
On offense, the Jumbos are certainly going to have their hands full against the Panthers stingy defense. Panther goalies Marc Scheuer and Yen-I Chen have the top two goals-against averages with 1.49 and 1.87, respectively, and haven't allowed more than five goals in one game this season.
Tufts' offensive charge will be led by junior tri-captain Shawn Sullivan and sophomore Ken Cleary. Sullivan's 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) is good for sixth in the NESCAC, while his 1.38 PPG and 17 assists a game both rank him fourth. Cleary is second on the team in total points with 18 goals, good for third in the NESCAC, to go along with his seven assists.
The Jumbos are 0-4 against the Panthers since joining the NESCAC, falling by a combined goal total of 35-5. If the Jumbos were to come away victorious, the squad would go on to face the winner of the Colby-Williams match in Maine tomorrow afternoon at the home of the highest remaining seed.
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