With Tuesday night's 4-2 win over Johnson and Wales, the Tufts hockey team has already matched the victory total of last winter's squad. And with eight more regular season games remaining for the Jumbos, the team has ample opportunity to surpass last season's mark.
Tufts, who was 8-15-1 at the end of the 2003-04 season, currently sits at 8-7-1 overall and 4-6-1 in the NESCAC/ECAC East. On Tuesday night on home ice at the Valley Forum II in Malden, the team was led by two goals from junior Matt McCarthy, while junior Matt Ninnemann had 29 saves in net.
The Jumbos are on a roll with a five-game unbeaten stretch that has made their overall record a winning one. The first time the team has had more wins than losses since January 17, 2003, when it sat at 4-3-2.
This weekend the Jumbos will have to maintain the same level of play as they try to improve their record against Southern Maine and Salem State on their home ice.
"These games are very important as we try to narrow the gap between us and the teams above us in the standings. We need to go out and get points," said sophomore Matt Dalton, who netted his first goal of the season and the first of the game against Colby last Friday night at home. "We are looking to build on the momentum we got from this past weekend, and go out and play our game and work hard."
On Friday at 7:30 p.m. the men will face the University of Southern Maine Huskies, a team that currently holds a record of 8-7-2 overall and 5-5-1 in the NESCAC/ECAC East. The Huskies are coming off an 8-0 win against UMass Boston.
The last time these two teams faced-off was last year, resulting in a 3-3 tie in overtime.
"We've been playing well lately," Ninnemann said. "But this weekend is all about building on the positive things our team has done recently."
On Saturday, the Jumbos will go head-to-head with the Salem State Vikings. The Vikings are returning 22 players from last year's roster, which includes seven of its top ten scorers from 2003-04.
Last year the Jumbos defeated the Vikings 6-3, scoring three goals in the final period to hold off a late Salem State comeback attempt. That win put Tufts into ninth place in NESCAC competition, with the top eight teams qualifying for the conference playoffs.
Saturday, the Jumbo forwards will have to be aggressive early against Salem State, who returns this season with sophomore goaltender Kevin Adam. Adam is looking to improve upon a phenomenal freshman year in which he turned back 30 shots a game, surrendering 70 goals in 20 games for a save percentage of 89.6.
"Recently, we have been playing as a group and doing all the little things to get a win as a team," Ninnemann said. "That's something that wasn't happening consistently earlier in the year.
Tufts enters this weekend on the heels of two exceptional performances last weekend. Friday the Jumbos knocked out a big 4-1 win over the nationally-ranked Colby Mules, as freshman goalie James Kalec turned away 60 shots in net, breaking a school record that had stood since the 1955-56 season. The team followed that up with a tie over another nationally-ranked school, the Bowdoin Polar Bears, when freshman Matt Tosto notched his first collegiate goal midway through the third period to ensure the 3-3 tie.
The Jumbos will have to keep up the strong goal tending with solid network from both Kalec and Ninnemann, who together have turned away 89.9 percent of shots on the Jumbo goal. Both Salem State and Southern Maine will have to keep their eyes out for leading Jumbo scorers senior Jason Boudrow (4-16-20), McCarthy (13-6-19), and freshman offensive sensation Greg O'Connell (8-10-18).
"We have to continue to play consistent defense against both these teams and to work hard all over the ice." Ninnemann said.
If they do, the Jumbos could be in for a very rewarding weekend.
