All bad things must come to an end.
After stumbling through a season characterized by inexperience and lack of depth, the hockey team can finally turn the page on a nightmarish 2006-07 year.
The Jumbos finished out the season with two road losses: a 4-3 defeat at the hands of UMass Boston Saturday, which came on the heels of a 7-2 loss at Babson the previous night. The Jumbos finished with a 6-18 overall record with a 3-16 NESCAC clip.
Hoping to halt a two-game skid and end the season on a high note, the Jumbos traveled cross-town on Saturday. Although the team capitalized on a series of UMass penalties and led 2-1 at the beginning of the third period, the Beacons came back fighting and scored three goals, including freshman Adam Larrabee's game-winner at the 14:48 mark.
"We came out flat," sophomore forward Joe Milo said. "We came to the game thinking this was going to be an easy win, but we didn't have what it took to win. We were surprised."
With the help of sophomore forward Jared Melillo, Jumbo senior co-captain Peter Corbett fought back and scored a goal at the beginning of the third period, which at first appeared to drive the nail in the Beacons' coffin.
The Tufts squad continued to battle until Beacon sophomore forward Rocco Dabecco found the weakness in the Jumbo armor in the second period and began an onslaught of assists, contributing to every goal scored by the Beacons and leading them to the 4-3 comeback win.
"We knew this game was going to be our last of the year, so we were down," Milo said. "But hopefully this time next year we see this game as the final one of the regular season and the one before we go to playoffs."
This year's Tufts team fell far short of playoff contention, finishing the season on a three-game losing skid and sliding into the basement of the NESCAC with a record of 3-16, the worst in the league. Milo attributed the streak to a negative team attitude, as the Jumbos' 2-10 start to the season killed their momentum the rest of the way.
"[Winning] is more about how you do throughout the season," Milo said. "We were in a slump, and it dragged us down."
The second of the Jumbos' three season-ending losses came Friday night in Babson Park, where the Beavers slammed the Jumbos, 7-2 behind two goals from sophomore Matt Harrington, while five other Babson players joined the party.
Babson took the early lead at the 10:06 mark in the first, but Tufts answered shortly afterward with a goal from freshman forward Cory Korchin to tie the score at 1-1. Minutes later, Beaver junior Mike Venit took his own rebound and sent it to the back of the net to put Babson up 2-1, handing the Beavers a lead they would not relinquish.
Babson ran away with the victory over the remaining minutes of play. While the blowout was a disappointing one for the Tufts squad, the players were determined not to worry about the loss, and instead looked ahead to the future.
"We didn't let this loss get to us," Corbett said. "This is a young team, and they'll come back strong next year."
Only four of this year's players - Corbett, Matt Dalton, Brian Bailey, John Murphy - are not returning next year, and as a majority of the team is underclassmen, the Jumbos should come back next year with playoff intentions.
Not one of Tufts' top six scorers was from this year's graduating class, with
junior forward Ross Gimbel leading the way with 25 points, followed by two sophomore forwards, Milo and Greg McCarthy, who each added 20.
In addition to the strong offensive output from the Jumbos' returning members, the team has also matured mentally and emotionally, and the returning stars hope that their development as a team will translate to wins next winter.
"We learned a lot," Milo said. "Next season, we're going to have to come together as a real team. We're going to step up and be leaders."
