Nothing lasts forever, and unbeaten streaks are no exception. The hockey team learned this lesson the hard way on Friday, falling to the Southern Maine Huskies 5-2 at Valley Forum II in a NESCAC/ECAC East matchup. The loss ended Tufts' five game unbeaten streak.
On Saturday, the Jumbos fell again, this time to the Salem State Vikings by a 3-1 score. The consecutive defeats dipped Tufts back below .500, to 8-9-1 on the season.
The latter loss came in a tightly fought contest that was not decided until the final buzzer sounded. A Vikings score with 1:51 remaining in the contest put them up 2-1, and an empty netter sealed the deal. Score aside, however, the game saw yet another fine performance by Tufts' freshman goaltender James Kalec. He had 42 saves, including a 20-save first period.
The first scoring of the day came 2:46 into the second, when freshman defenseman Joe Cappellano continued the recent trend of rookie contributors for the Jumbos as he knocked in his first career collegiate goal. Assisting on the power play score - only eight seconds into the man-advantage - were juniors Ken Cleary and Pat Walsh.
Tufts, in a period in which it outshot Salem State 12-9, held the lead until 18:28 left in the period, when the Vikings finally broke through with a power play score of their own.
Throughout the third, play was tight but was still controlled by Salem State. After the late Vikings goal, Tufts coach Brian Murphy pulled Kalec to give the Jumbos more men for a possible scoring opportunity. But an empty net score by Salem State was just the insurance it needed for a gritty victory.
The Jumbos had defeated Salem State last year, 6-3.
On Friday night against Southern Maine, suspense was a little harder to come by than it would be the next day. The zamboni had only just left the ice for the start of the game when Southern Maine struck for four scores on only eight shots in the first. The only Tufts tally in 11 shots came midway through the Huskies' avalanche of goals, from freshman Ross Gimbel. Gimbel would net the only other Jumbo goal as well, at 16:26 of the third when the result was not in doubt.
A scoreless second frame was played out evenly, but the third, like so many other third periods in this up-and-down season, belonged to the opposition. 14 saves from Kalec kept the score respectable. One final empty net goal from the Huskies at the end of the contest put the finishing touches on their victory. The two teams had fought to a 3-3 tie on last year's meeting.
"We need to try to get better, especially on offense," junior forward Matt McCarthy said. "Once we start scoring some more goals, as we've proven we can do, we'll be alright."
He also emphasized how important it would be to rebound from two tough games.
Next Friday and Saturday, Tufts takes its show on the road as it travels to nearby locales. Friday night, the team will be up against UMass-Boston, and the next afternoon the Jumbos head to Wellesley to face Babson.
