For the second straight weekend, the hockey team split a pair of games to stay at .500. A loss in the first round of the Rutland Herald Invitational but a rebound win in the consolation game keeps Tufts even on the young season at 2-2.
The Jumbos faced Morrisville State in the consolation game on Sunday afternoon and edged the Mustangs 5-4 on a game-winner from sophomore Doug Wilson, who was the only Jumbo to make the All-Tournament team.
Morrisville killed three penalties in the first period and survived a barrage by the Jumbos, who used long breakout passes to create opportunities. Senior goalkeeper Brett Freese survived a 14-2 Tufts shot advantage before Morrisville freshman Rob Sgarbossa pushed across the first goal of the game at 9:56 in the second period, his sixth of the season.
"We outshot them by a huge margin, but their goalie played great," coach Brian Murphy said. "We were getting quality chances, and ... it was great for us to win a game where they came out of the first period unscathed. It was the kind of game you can easily lose, where their goalie stands on his head and we're reeling, but we fought back."
Two penalties and less than a minute later, junior defenseman Joe Milo scored his third goal of the season on a 4-on-4 to even up the score. Senior goaltender James Kalec earned a rare assist as he connected with sophomore Matt Ryder, who then found Milo.
However, the goal gave the Mustangs a man advantage, and they capitalized with a power-play goal by senior forward Matt Damskov. The scoring flurry continued with another power play goal by Damskov with just over two minutes left in the period to give Morrisville State a two-goal advantage.
The Jumbos again quickly found an answer, as junior Kurt Hertzog scored his third goal of the season off an assist from Wilson with just over a minute left to bring Tufts back within one going into the final period.
"We kept the same game plan, and I think they did a really nice job coming back," Murphy said of his team. "Kurt kept them focused ... He scored our second goal through a great individual effort. We didn't have [senior tri-captain Greg McCarthy] or [senior Matt Tosto], so we needed that leadership and he stepped up and really blew the fire out."
Two more unanswered goals from sophomores Cory Korchin and Ryder gave Tufts its first lead of the game midway through the third.
Sgarbossa came back to tie the score at four, but just 19 seconds later Tufts was back on the attack, with sophomore Evan Crosby finding Wilson at the point. The defenseman skated around a Mustang and then floated a wrist shot by the screened goalie for the game-winning goal.
"It was a tough weekend with back-to-back games, one late Saturday then early Sunday," senior tri-captain Joe Cappellano said. "So in between periods our veterans stepped up and told everyone we needed to focus and we were able to come back."
Kalec improved his record to 2-1, saving 18 shots, while Freese stopped 28 shots as Morrisville fell to 2-10 on the season.
Tufts fell 6-3 in Saturday's opening round to Neumann College, which went on to top host Castleton State 3-2 in the tournament championship. The game was close well into the third quarter, when the Jumbos trailed just 4-3 until a fluke penalty led to a power play goal for the Spartans, and Murphy's offensive push left the net open for the final Neumann goal.
"Neumann is ranked in the top 15, third in the coaches' poll," Murphy said. "They have a lot of players from Ontario and play a hard-nosed style with a lot of line rushes and get it to net."
The Jumbos started strong when Wilson scored his first goal of the season only 3:19 into the game. They had a chance to extend their lead as Knights senior Jeff Nuttall was hit with a five-minute game disqualifying penalty for hitting from behind. However, Neumann killed the penalty and came back with three unanswered goals, despite being outshot by the Jumbos 12-6 in the first period.
"After a long bus ride it's difficult to get the legs moving, but we came out strong," Cappellano said. "To not have the lead was frustrating."
The Jumbos cut the Spartans' lead to one on a power play goal by Milo on sophomore David Antonelli's second assist of the game. Yet Tufts found itself constantly shorthanded, serving five penalties between Milo's goal and Knight junior Kyle Casey's first goal at 6:20 in the third.
Again, the Jumbos cut the lead to one as freshman Andy Davis scored his first collegiate goal on a power-play. But they never got a good chance to tie as a costly penalty 30 seconds after Davis's goal led to Casey's second goal at 10:43.
"We were down 4-3, and then after a stupid penalty they scored and we took our goalie out and they put it in on an empty net," Murphy said.
"We would've liked to get a point," Cappellano added. "What was most frustrating was that we put ourselves in a good position, in the third period only down a goal. But then just a couple of lapses, and we just let the game slip away from us."
Senior Issa Azat started his first game in goal of the season for Tufts, saving 25 shots.
"We've played fairly well [this season], with the exception of the Middlebury game," Murphy said, referencing the Jumbos' 5-1 loss to the top-ranked Panthers on Nov. 17. "I've talked with the guys about keeping their composure while facing adversity, and if we do that we'll have a chance to win every game."
