Looking Back (Jan. 24) | ICE HOCKEY 5, BOWDOIN 3
Trailing the Bowdoin Polar Bears 3-2 going into the third period on Saturday and winless since a Jan. 9 victory over Norwich, the ice hockey team knew it had to take a stand. The Jumbos did just that, netting three goals in the final frame while holding the Polar Bears scoreless over that span to earn the conference victory.
When Tufts went on a power play 10 minutes into the period, sophomore Tom Derosa wasted no time making it count, scoring his ninth goal of the season three seconds later to tie the game. A little more than three minutes after that, Derosa again found the net, this time on a short-handed wrap-around goal to put the Jumbos up by one.
With the squad clinging to its single-goal lead, freshman goalie Scott Barchard was flawless in net, stopping all 16 of Bowdoin's shots in the period. The Polar Bears finished the game with 48 shots on goal compared to just 30 for the Jumbos.
Sophomore Dylan Cooper added the final score of the game, an empty-net tally with 1:09 left, to put it away for good. Cooper also had two assists in the game and was one of four Jumbos — joining Derosa and freshmen Matt Amico and Nick Resor (who had two and three assists, respectively) — to record a multi-point effort.
Tufts will continue conference play on Friday when it faces Amherst at home.
Looking Ahead (Feb. 1) | SUPER BOWL XLIII
This Sunday, in front of a projected audience of nearly 100 million Americans, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet in Tampa Bay for Super Bowl XLIII. The two-week layoff between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl has allowed the media time to generate a myriad of storylines. But behind all the hype lays the potential for a great game.
The Steelers, endowed with one of the stronger defenses this decade, enter the game as the solid favorite. Led by a young, respected coach in Mike Tomlin and a Super Bowl veteran quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger, the team is not expected to be swallowed by the scale and pressure of the moment.
The Cardinals, with their young roster, arrive in Tampa as the underdog. But are they also the team of destiny? Kurt Warner, a potential Hall of Fame quarterback, is looking to complete the second act of his career by leading Arizona to a world championship exactly nine years after emerging out of nowhere to lead the Rams to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV. With the best receiving corps in the NFL, Arizona is expected to challenge the Steelers' secondary.
So despite all the pomp and circumstance, once the national anthem is sung, all that matters is what happens between the lines.
