Four days after Tuesday's 7-2 road loss to non-conference UMass Dartmouth, the Jumbos took the ice in New London, Conn., Saturday, taking on the Conn. College Camels.
The outcome wasn't pretty.
The Camels blew the Jumbos away, winning, 7-0, to hand Tufts its worst loss of the season. Conn. College freshman Trevor Bradley was the star of the game, notching a hat trick to triple his points total on the year and lead the Camels to their second straight win after four early-season losses.
Tufts fell behind early when Bradley opened the scoring on a power-play goal at the 5:31 mark of the first period. Less than two minutes later, the Camels put another on the board, as sophomore forward Robbie Tesar lifted the puck over the stick of Tufts junior goaltender James Kalec. The Jumbos were able to stave off Conn. College for the rest of the period, but the worst was yet to come.
The Camels dominated Tufts in the second period, blowing the game wide open. Only 2:31 into the period, freshman Sean Driscoll put in his first collegiate goal to give Conn. a 3-0 lead. A two-minute minor for tripping called on Tufts freshman Dave Antonelli put the Jumbos down a player and set the stage for Bradley's second goal of the night 9:20 into the frame.
"We give up a lot of scoring chances while we're a man down," junior forward Greg O'Connell said.
Kalec and fellow junior goaltender Issa Azat are most vulnerable when Tufts is playing a man down, and many of the goals scored on the Jumbos this season have come when the two were disoriented or out of position.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the ice, Tufts simply could not convert chances into goals. The Jumbos had just five power-play opportunities, which may have contributed to the weak showing on their part.
With just over four minutes left in the second period, Camel junior Rob Campbell scored on a 2-1 odd-man rush, putting the Jumbos five goals behind and raising the level of urgency on the Tufts side.
The third period was nothing but a sloppy finish to a sloppy game. Tufts committed five penalties during the period, making the total on the night eight minor penalties for 16 minutes spent in the box.
Interestingly, however, both of the goals scored in the third period were scored by a shorthanded Conn. College team. At 6:44 in the third period, Camel sophomore Patrick Collins scored during a Tufts power play, widening the lead to 6-0. Bradley finished off his impressive night with an unassisted shorthanded goal that capped off his first collegiate hat trick.
Tufts fell short on both ends of the ice. Not only did the Camels obliterate the Jumbo defense, but Tufts was also unable to get any momentum in the offensive end. Conn. College freshman goaltender Greg Parker, notching his first collegiate shutout, faced a measly 24 shots, blocking them all. Kalec and Azat, who traded goaltending positions midway through the game, did their best against a barrage of 37 shots.
Saturday's loss in New London showed that Tufts doesn't just need to change some areas of their game; they need a serious overhaul.
"We need to learn how to stay out of the penalty box and how to finish games," senior captain John Murphy said. "When you are a man down for that long, you are bound to get a goal scored on you."
The Jumbos play through the beginning of March, so even the halfway point of the season is a ways off. However, Saturday's loss extended Tufts' skid to four games, ending the 2006 portion of the season with a record of 2-6. The Jumbos sit in last place in the NESCAC, both in terms of their 0-5 conference record and 2-6 overall record. Amherst, Hamilton and Bowdoin are all performing well, and Middlebury, the defending NCAA Div. III champions, are fourth in the conference with a 3-1-0 record.
It is not too late for Tufts to turn this season around, but it will have to start soon. The Jumbos will spend their month-long break from hockey analyzing and re-analyzing the mistakes of this first part of the season.
