Playing against first seeded Trinity, the Jumbos needed a major upset. Alas, the Jumbos did not have the luck they had hoped for, falling 9-2 to the favored Bantams in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Hockey Championship Tournament at Kingswood-Oxford Rink.
Trinity, ranked No. 3 in the nation, improved to 20-2-2 and extended its unbeaten streak to 11 games, while the Jumbos closed the season with a 12-12-1 mark. The Jumbos fell to Trinity last weekend 5-2 as well.
"It was a good season," McCarthy said. "The seniors and this team have laid a foundation these past years, especially this season. The mentality we had at the end of the season was there. We were good enough to beat any team and hopefully that will carry over to next year."
While Tufts' season ended with the loss to Trinity, the Bantams will continue their quest for a NESCAC Championship. Hosting the tournament semifinals for the first time, Trinity will play Bowdoin on Saturday. In the other semifinal match-up, Middlebury will play Colby.
The Jumbos headed to Trinity this past Saturday with an ambitious spirit to break their streak of bad luck in the playoffs. But for the third consecutive year, the Jumbos saw their season end in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC Tournament.
"We definitely could compete with Trinity, we just fell short at the end," junior forward and co-captain Kenny Cleary said.
The Bantams jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first period. The three goals all came within a four-minute time span, slipping between the pipes past freshman goalie James Kalec.
The Jumbos answered back late in the first on a power play opportunity. With assists from freshman Greg O'Connell and sophomore John Murphy, senior captain John Hurd stepped up and netted the first of the two Jumbo goals. The wrist shot by Hurd trickled in behind Bantam senior goalie Doug Kisielius with 5:50 left in the first period.
"We both knew each other's game," junior Matt McCarthy said. "We
analyzed their tapes and they analyzed ours. They knew our style of play and that worked against us this weekend."
The Bantams dominated the second period as they took a 5-1 lead with two minutes left in the period.
But McCarthy wouldn't let Trinity head into the locker room feeling that the game was lost as he netted his 19th goal of the season and trimmed the Bantam lead to 5-2 with a quick shot off a face-off with 1:26 remaining in the period. The score came on another power play opportunity for the Jumbos.
In the third period, Trinity capitalized on Tufts penalties, scoring four goals with the extra man to seal the victory. Trinity junior Cameron Finch netted two power play opportunities on his way to a hat trick. He now has 22 goals on the season, tied for tops in the NESCAC.
The Jumbos were short one man on the ice on seven different occasions in the contest, surrendering five goals. Trinity, on the other hand, gave up goals on just two of their five shorthanded sequences.
The Bantams out-shot the Jumbos, 36-23 while Kalec and fellow freshman goaltender Issa Azat combined for 27 stops.
Regardless of the outcome of the game, Tufts knows this season qualified as a moderate success, especially compared to last year.
"This season as a whole, we have taken some pretty big steps towards improving not only as a team, but also as a total organization," Cleary said. "I think we had a pretty successful season and everyone contributed some way to the team."
