This weekend the Tufts hockey team will face an uphill battle as it skates against two teams that are ranked above it in the NESCAC. The matchups with Amherst and Hamilton in Malden are the last two home games of the season for the Jumbos.
Tufts is heading into the games on the heels of an erratic weekend, one that was filled with ups and downs. Last Friday senior Jason Boudrow netted his 150th career point, while on Saturday the team once again dropped below .500 and was short a goalie in junior Matt Ninnemann.
Ninnemann was hospitalized after he suffered a hard shot to the chest at practice earlier in the week. He returned to Tufts this past Monday in good health, but he has not been cleared by doctors to play in this weekend's contests.
Last weekend the Jumbos split their weekend games, beating UMass Boston 4-2 on Friday with freshman James Kalec in net, but falling 4-2 to No. 14 Babson on Saturday with freshman Issa Azat between the pipes.
"Even though we lost to Babson, it was a very close game," sophomore Matt Dalton said. "So we proved to ourselves again that we can play with the best teams in the nation, which bodes well for us because we're playing two very tough teams this weekend."
Tonight, the Jumbo's will face the fifth ranked team in the NESCAC, the Amherst Lord Jeffs. Last year, Tufts suffered a 5-3 loss against the Jeffs, leading the game for the first two periods until an unfortunate third period. Amherst scored three straight goals during a wild 1:34 stretch in the third period to notch a crucial 5-3 come-from-behind win over the visiting Jumbos. For Tufts, the loss was a blow to their hopes of obtaining one of the eight spots into the NESCAC playoffs. A similar scenario faces the Jumbos entering tonight's game.
"We just need to try and get some points this weekend because every game is crucial to our standings down the home stretch of our season," junior Pat Walsh said.
This year the Jumbos hope to hold strong against an Amherst team that is 10-8-2 overall, and 8-5-2 in the conference. The Jeffs are coming off a three game losing streak. The Jumbo defense will have to be at its best, as Jeffs senior co-captain Beau Kretzman is now tied for fifth all-time in scoring at Amherst with 140 career points, having notched a goal and an assist over the weekend.
Tomorrow afternoon, Tufts will play host to the Hamilton Continentals, the sixth ranked team in the NESCAC. Last year the Jumbos were defeated 6-1, as six different Continentals found the back of the Tufts net.
"We're trying to improve on our special teams," Walsh said. "We need to get our power play working a little bit better and get a little momentum to propel us into the playoffs."
Hamilton has not been playing well on the road this year - the Continentals have not won a road game since Jan. 8 against Amherst. They are, however, coming into the game with two weekend victories. The most impressive was a 3-2 win over Middlebury, the third best team in the NESCAC.
The Jumbos will have to be on guard as they face Gus Katsuras of Hamilton. Katsuras was selected as the U.S. College Hockey Online/ITECH Men's Division III Offensive Player of the Week and was named the NESCAC Player of the Week. Katsuras leads the conference with 19 goals and is second in points with 34 on the season.
"We know we just have to go out there and work hard and play our game," Dalton said. "If we do, we have a chance to win every game we play."
The Jumbos only have four more games until the playoffs start, which only the top eight teams will play in. Tufts is currently sitting in the eighth spot, which makes the next four games crucial.
The team will be sponsoring a fan bus to Friday's game at Malden Arena. The fan bus if free for all Tufts students with their student ID and it leaves at 6:30 p.m. from the Campus Center.
