Ice Hockey | Streaking Jumbos win four straight over break

    The holiday season brought the gift of momentum to the Jumbo hockey team.
    With wins over Johnson & Wales and Framingham State, the Jumbos improved their overall record to 5-3 and extended their winning streak to four games, the team's best run since a seven-game streak at the start of the 2000-01 season. 
    In their first game of the new year, the Jumbos rolled over non-conference Johnson & Wales 8-0 at home. Freshman goalie Scott Barchard posted 28 saves for his first career shutout and his fourth win with the Jumbos.
    The team was led offensively by sophomore Tom Derosa, the squad's points leader. Derosa buried two goals and had two assists in the blowout.
    "[Derosa's] line is playing very well right now," coach Brian Murphy said. "The reason we brought Tom in is because he can score, and he's been doing that."
    After Derosa opened the scoring just 1:42 into the first period, the Jumbos continued to bombard Johnson & Wales' sophomore goalie JR Woodland, firing 16 shots on goal to the Wildcats' seven.
    At 8:42 of the first frame, Tufts freshman Evan Story scored a power-play goal, setting off a Jumbos scoring flurry. In less than three minutes, the Jumbos added two more goals during the five-minute power play with tallies from sophomore Lindsay Walker and junior Cory Korchin to take a 4-0 lead at the end of the period.
    Sophomore Mike Vitale and freshman Nick Resor each added a goal in the second period to build a 6-0 lead for the Jumbos.
    In the final period, Derosa scored his second goal of the game and team-leading seventh of the season, and senior Jared Melillo buried one more in the final minute to make the score 8-0. Barchard finished strong with 13 third-period saves to defend shutout bid.
    The Jumbos' 4-3 win over Framingham State on Dec. 9 was a much closer affair that saw the Jumbos barely hold on to a three-goal lead after a third-period rally by the Rams.
    The Jumbos entered the third period well ahead after a dominant second period that saw them score four unanswered goals following a goal by Rams senior Sean Maguire, who opened the scoring at 1:31 of the period.
    Although the Jumbos outshot the Rams 41-30 on the game, the Rams took control in the third period and forced junior goalie Jay McNamara to work to defend the Jumbos' lead. While the Rams beat McNamara twice in the final frame, he turned aside 11 of the 13 shots he faced for a 27-save win, his first victory of the season and his career.
    Contributing to Tufts' second period scoring flurry was Derosa, with his fourth and fifth goals of the season, and Resor with his fifth.