This weekend yielded another tough set of losses for the ice hockey team. The Jumbos surrendered consecutive home contests, first on Friday night to the New England College Pilgrims and then on Saturday afternoon to the St. Anselm Hawks, dropping Tufts' record to 2-4.
Saturday's game against the Hawks was a back-and-forth affair that ended with the Jumbos dropping a narrow 5-4 decision. Tufts struck first when freshman Doug Wilson tallied a power-play goal 10:17 into the first period. Juniors Greg O'Connell and Joe Cappellano notched assists on Wilson's goal, which was his third of this season, and followed his final-minute game-winner on the Jumbos' 5-4 win last Tuesday.
The Hawks responded early in the second period with a power-play goal of their own to even the score at 1-1. Tufts played short-handed for a significant portion of the game, and two of St. Anselm's five goals were scored on the power play.
"It is never good to be on the penalty kill," O'Connell said. "The same guys are killing it every time, so they get tired."
The Jumbos again saw the effects of some new officiating trends in NCAA hockey which effectively ban contact of the stick to the body. Stricter enforcement has greatly increased overall penalty minutes.
"We've been playing hockey our whole lives, and the way they are calling the games these days, it is just not hockey anymore," senior co-captain John Murphy said of the officiating. "Physical teams don't have the advantage they used to."
Junior goaltender James Kalec posted 26 saves in net, including three on the Hawks' power play, marking his fifth straight 20-plus save game.
With the game still tied at 1-1 five minutes into the second period, sophomore Joe Milo tallied his third goal of the year to put the Jumbos in front 2-1. But the lead would not hold. St. Anselm battled back over the next 10 minutes, with senior forward Derek Evjenth notching his first goal of the season at the 14:27 mark. The Jumbos responded, however, when O'Connell lit the lamp for the second time this year with 50 seconds left in the second period.
The Jumbos entered the third period with a 3-2 lead that promised a fast-paced final 20 minutes. It took the Hawks 10 minutes, but they knotted the score at 3-3 when as junior forward and Medford native Mike Foley found the back of the net, throwing Kalec off balance with a crowd of players in the slot in front of the net.
Tufts upped its intensity but could not convert on a perfect chance to go ahead with 8:30 left in the period. A scrum in front of the net confused St. Anselm freshman goaltender Jason Zuck, but when a Tufts player tried to flip the puck over him into the net, the rookie reached up and snatched the puck out of the air.
Moments later, the Jumbos found what they were looking for on a textbook play. From just inside the blue line, Milo threw the puck across the crease to the perfectly positioned O'Connell, waiting on the far post, who touched it into the net.
The Jumbos had retaken the lead, but St. Anselm was not finished. Hawk senior Nick Sacca found the back of the net to even the score, followed by the game-winner less than two minutes later off the stick of senior Brett Smith to seal the victory for St. Anselm. With emotions running high, a fight broke out in front of the St. Anselm goal with just 12 seconds left. Two players from each team were penalized with a five-minute fighting major and a game disqualification.
"There was not much we could do to avoid the brawl," said Murphy, who was involved in the scuffle. "They were trying to protect their goalie, we were trying to help out our guys. It just got a little out of hand."
Tufts fell to New England College on Friday night, again missing an opportunity to come back in the final minutes. Murphy struck first, but the Jumbos lost their only lead 10 minutes into the first period. The squad tried to battle back but ultimately fell by a final score of 4-2.
"We just need to learn how to stay out of the penalty box and finish games," Murphy said. "We consistently let the lead slip away."
Tufts will take on UMass-Dartmouth tomorrow night, the first game of a five-game road trip that ends when the Jumbos return home Jan. 19, where they will spar with Bowdoin.
