Coming into the weekend, the ice hockey team had a little momentum coming off its first victory of the season. That momentum was short-lived, however, as the team suffered tough losses to New England College and Saint Anselm on Friday and Saturday.
The Friday game was especially painful, as the Jumbos ended up on the short end of a 4-3 overtime loss. Tufts and NEC battled back and forth during a scoreless first period with the Jumbos finally breaking through in the second period to take a 1-0 lead on a powerplay goal by junior Matt Dalton.
Sophomore goalie James Kalec turned away every shot through the first two frames, making 31 saves and keeping the Pilgrims scoreless.
NEC finally got on the board 5:44 into the third as Brandon Fackey scored to make it a 1-1 game. Teammate Mike Carmody scored shortly thereafter, giving the Pilgrims a 2-1 advantage.
The Jumbos were not about to let NEC prevail. Senior assistant captain Matt McCarthy scored on a powerplay with just 3:46 remaining to even the count and sophomore Greg O'Connell put Tufts up 3-2 with only 43 seconds to play. With under a minute left in regulation, it looked as if the Jumbos were going to get their first league victory and extend their overall win streak to two, but Carmody stunned the Jumbos, scoring the equalizer with only nine seconds left.
Shocked and somewhat discouraged, the Jumbos tried to come out hard in the overtime period, but the fired up Pilgrims proved to be too much, as Paul Ruta scored his first goal of the year to give NEC a 4-3 win and a perfect 4-0 record.
"It was a real heartbreaker because we worked so hard to come back and get the lead," McCarthy said. "To lose a game like that really hurts."
The pain showed, as the Jumbos came out flat the next day and did not put up much of a fight against the Saint Anselm Hawks, who cruised to a 7-1 victory in New Hampshire.
The Hawks scored one goal in the first period, and three in each of the next two. The Jumbos finally got on the board in the third period when O'Connell scored off a nice cross-ice pass from McCarthy, but with the game already at 6-0, it was too little too late.
"Coming off the tough loss Friday, we just never got anything going," McCarthy said. "It was just one of those games."
Chris O'Brien and Josh Hechter had strong games for Saint Anselm. O'Brien finished the day with two goals and two assists, while Hechter assisted on three goals and tallied the Hawks' first score of the game. It was Saint Anselm's third consecutive victory, as the team is now 4-1-1 (1-0-1 ECAC). Tufts, on the other hand, fell to 1-4-1 after the tough weekend.
The team knows it will have to fix some things and start playing better in order to compete for a playoff spot.
"There are adjustments we need to make, but it's more about our confidence and ability to win when it comes down to the last few minutes that is hurting us," McCarthy said.
Friday's game marked the fourth time this season that the Jumbos have had a third period meltdown. In the first two games of the season, losses to Middlebury and Williams, Tufts allowed three goals to cough up a tie in the final period both times. Against Southern New Hampshire, the Jumbos lost leads on three separate occasions on their way to a 3-3 tie. The latest implosion against NEC was not much different.
Tufts will now return home for its final two games before the break. On Wednesday, the Jumbos will take on 4-3 UMass-Dartmouth, a team that has traded wins and losses through its first seven games. Tufts will try to extend the pattern and hand the Corsairs, who are coming off a 2-1 win over Curry College, their fourth loss of the season.
On Saturday, Tufts will wrap up against Connecticut College at home before taking a break until January. The Jumbos are looking for any kind of boost, which makes these two games very important.
"We need these two wins," McCarthy said. "If we get them, we will be in good shape going into the break."
