After earning its first win of the season and its first piece of hardware in nearly a decade, the Tufts hockey team certainly had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend.
After starting off the season 0-2-1, the Jumbos participated in the Rutland Herald Invitational Championship at Rutland, Vt this past weekend. There, Tufts' offense finally found its rhythm as the Jumbos pummeled both the defending Div. III national champion, Neumann, and Castleton (5-2) to win the tournament — their first since the 2000 season.
"It's nice to get some hardware, but the main thing for us was getting things rolling," senior tri-captain Dave Antonelli said. "But this weekend doesn't mean anything if next week we can't keep it going."
Throughout Sunday's championship game against Castleton, the Jumbos were in complete control. Both teams struggled to crack open the scoring in the first period, but with just over two minutes to play, junior Zach Diaco broke the stalemate with his team-leading third goal of the season. The power play goal — one of two for Tufts in the contest — was assisted by senior Doug Wilson and junior Lindsay Walker.
"We've been working on the power play a lot in practice," Diaco said. "We also tried out some new line combos this weekend and we got a lot of production from all four lines."
With 11 different players registering a point, it was a productive day for the entire Tufts squad.
"[Depth] is one of our strengths," Antonelli said. "We have some stars, but we have a lot of guys who can fill in some roles. We can really lean on that going forward."
Sophomore goaltender Scott Barchard kept up his superb play, registering 20 of his 30 total saves over the first two periods and keeping Castleton off the board until the final frame, when Tufts put a stranglehold on the Spartans.
Three Jumbos — freshman Dylan Plimmer, junior Conor Pieri and Walker — each scored their first goals of the season in the second period as Tufts extended its lead to 4-0. Both Pieri and Walker finished with a goal and an assist apiece.
Spartan senior Evan Romeo finally put an end to Barchard's bid for a shutout at 2:15 of the third period, cutting the lead to 4-1, but junior tri-captain Dylan Cooper returned the favor for Tufts five minutes later with the Jumbos' second power-play goal of the afternoon, helped by junior Tom Derosa and Pieri.
"It felt really good to get revenge against these guys," said Diaco, referring to the 11-2 drubbing the Jumbos received at the hands of Castleton last season.
The two power-play goals marked the Jumbos' best special teams performance so far this season, and their perfect slate on the penalty kill was a continuation of their excellent play with a man in the box, as they have killed off 18 of 23 penalties.
Saturday's tournament opener versus Neumann was not quite as easy for the Jumbos, though the final score was the same. Down 2-1 at the start of the third period, Tufts exploded with a four-goal final frame to take the 5-2 win, their first of the year.
Throughout the contest, the Jumbos relied heavily on Barchard, who notched 14 saves in each of the first two periods and 20 in the third for a total of 48. Tufts only managed 22 shots on goal.
"The biggest thing on Saturday was [Barchard]," Antonelli said. "He basically stood on his head and gave us a chance to win. We finally woke up in the third period and realized, ‘Hey, we can win this thing.'"
Despite their struggles in the first two frames, it took just 12 seconds for the Jumbos to get rolling at the start of the period as Cooper ripped his second goal of the season past Knights goalie Ross MacKinnon to even the score at 2-2. Derosa and Pieri assisted on the equalizer and Pieri finished the game with three helpers.
Less than three minutes later, freshman Trevor John notched the game-winner with his second strike of the season. Then, senior Cory Korchin added some insurance with a tally of his own, extending the lead to 4-2. Junior Mike Vitale put in the final goal with an empty-netter in the final minute.
The Jumbos opened the scoring with Diaco's power-play goal at 8:53 of the first, but Neumann controlled the scoreboard after that with two power-play goals of its own, one in each the first and second period.
With their first win out of the way and their record now at 2-2-1, the Jumbos are looking to build some momentum as they head into an important part of their schedule. Over the next two weeks, the Jumbos will face three straight conference opponents, starting with New England College on Friday, before they take a break for the winter vacation.
"We're on a bit of a roll here," Antonelli said. "We will get on some roll like this, but our focus is just being even-keeled throughout."
