The opening weekend for the ice hockey team in some ways mirrored the unpredictability of the sport itself. After scoring a historic shutout against the defending conference champions on the road, the Jumbos were similarly swept aside by an even greater margin at Williams, returning home with a 1−1 record after the first weekend of the new season.
After getting demolished 6−2 by eventual champion Middlebury in the quarterfinals of last season's NESCAC tournament, ending the team's season, Tufts got its revenge on Friday. The team blanked Middlebury 3−0 to start the season with a bang and hand the Panthers their first opening−game shutout loss since 1940.
Middlebury entered Friday's contest leading the all−time series between the schools 16−2−3; the team was undefeated against Tufts since 1954. With that in mind — as well as a Panthers−friendly crowd of 1,700 at Kenyon Arena — the Jumbos knew that they would be hard−pressed to extract anything positive out of the hostile environment.
After a scoreless first period, Tufts came out firing just two minutes into the second period. Senior quad−captain Dylan Cooper pounced on a rebound at the far post, slotting a shot past freshman goalie Nick BonDurant, who was making his collegiate debut.
"It was an easy tap−in goal," Cooper said. "[Senior quad−captain Tom] Derosa cut across the slot and took a hard shot on goal, and the puck just bounced to me at the back door and I slammed it in. It was just about being in the right place at the right time."
Middlebury immediately went on the counteroffensive and tried to take advantage of three power−play opportunities later in the period, but they were consistently denied by junior quad−captain goalie Scott Barchard, who made 29 saves to pick up where he left off in a record−setting 2009−10 season. In contrast, Tufts took only 15 shots, as Middlebury was constantly in and around the Jumbos' zone.
"It was a really well−played game by both teams, but we just got better every shift, and that's what we need to do to win games," Barchard said. "The freshmen were especially improving, which was great to see and is what we need if we want to have a successful season."
The Jumbos doubled their lead at the start of the third period as senior Zach Diaco pounced on another rebound and slapped the puck into the net from the high slot.
The goal served only as a momentary respite for Tufts, though, as Middlebury had several breakaway chances in the final frame. But Barchard stonewalled the hungry Panthers, and freshman Garrett Sider's empty−net goal locked up the win.
"The defense was a total six−man effort," Barchard said. "Our forwards played incredibly, blocking so many shots in front of me and letting me see the shots that they couldn't block. Anything I can see, I have a good chance to save, and fortunately we were able to keep them out of the net."
With the win, the Jumbos sent a message to the NESCAC that they are ready to be a major contender for the conference title. As much of a statement as the victory was, however, any Jumbos hockey fan would agree that the next day's trip to Williamstown, Mass., resulted in one of the worst defeats in recent memory, a 5−0 drubbing at the hands of the host Ephs.
Williams has been dominant early, outscoring opponents 10−1 in its first two games.
In Saturday's game, Williams set the tone right from the start, scoring the deciding goal within 15 seconds of the opening faceoff with a brilliant series of passes between forwards Ben Contini and John Wickman leading to a wide−open chance for sophomore forward Eric Rubino, who buried the puck past Barchard for a 1−0 advantage.
"The early goal just made us low energy for the rest of the period, and it really set us back," Cooper said. "It took us getting down by two or three goals before we responded and picked up our play, and by then it was too late."
From that point, Tufts' fate was eerily similar to Middlebury's the day prior. The Jumbos had nine power−play chances throughout the game and peppered the goalie with shots, looking to equalize. But much like Barchard the day before, Williams junior Ryan Purdy was a goalkeeper at the top of his game, stopping 24 shots for his first shutout of the year.
"I think we just thought the game was going to be easy, easier than it actually was," Barchard, who made 35 saves in the losing effort, said. "We were pretty tired, but we have to play hard every game no matter what. That's the nature of this league — it's one of the best conferences in Div. III, and any team can beat you on any day."
The Jumbos' failure to score would come back to haunt them, as Contini, Wickman and Rubino worked a brilliant combination that led to Rubino getting his second tally of the game. Tufts pushed hard to get back into it, but the Ephs' penalty−killing kept coming up big. Williams managed to add a shorthanded goal from senior forward Connor Olvany to stretch its advantage to three.
Though the game was out of reach during the third period, Olvany and senior co−captain Matt Masucci collected the fourth and fifth tallies of the game, respectively, increasing the Ephs' already huge lead.
By the end, the Jumbos were anxious to return home and prepare for their home opener tomorrow against Curry. Even though they finished the weekend road trip with mixed results, they know they have the talent to compete with any team in the league, especially after their landmark win against Middlebury.
"We're really excited to finally come home and be comfortable at our own rink," Barchard said. "Hopefully we'll get some support from the fans and start the home season off the right way."
Hot−shooting guard Alex Goldfarb's golden touch gives Jumbos their first season−opening win in four years
It seems that the 2010−11 men's basketball season may already be on track for success.
The Jumbos on Saturday night rallied in the second half to pull away from Skidmore for a 79−67 win at Cousens Gym. The victory marks the first time the team has won a season opener since 2006 — the last season Tufts posted a winning record — and the excitement among the team was tangible.
"I really can't even describe it," sophomore Alex Goldfarb said. "After last season, it feels great to start off on the right foot. We just have to take it one game at a time, though. We have a much deeper team this year, so we all need to keep working hard and keep getting better."
To the 400 fans present, the Jumbos looked like a completely new team. And after graduating their two leading scorers in Jon Pierce and Dave Beyel (both LA '10), they have practically become one.
Goldfarb came into the game as the only remaining go−to shooter, and he did not disappoint. Off the bench, the second−year guard went 4−for−5 from the 3−point arc and finished with a game−high 18 points. Junior forward Alex Orchowski — a transfer from Div. I Lafayette — lived up to his preseason hype as well, tallying an impressive 13 points and 17 rebounds. It was the most boards by a Jumbo since Pierce grabbed the same number in December 2008.
Junior tri−captain James Long also came up big in his new role, putting together a double−double with 12 points and 11 boards off the bench when sophomore Scott Anderson got into foul trouble early.
The underclassmen also stepped up, thriving when given the chance to prove their worth. The bench combined for 34 points, something rarely seen in the past few seasons when scoring was primarily dominated by Pierce and Beyel. The Jumbos had five players hit double digits on the night.
"I think it is just a completely different dynamic with a lot of guys coming off the bench," Long said. "We're definitely a lot deeper this year with guys on the bench we know can contribute both offensively and defensively. We changed a lot of things up, and we're going to be running the floor a lot more. I think we just spread the ball around a lot more than last year and everyone's just getting their touches."
Though the Thoroughbreds held a slight edge early on, their shooting fell off as the game moved on, and they finished at a poor 33.8 percent. The Jumbos, on the other hand, were both precise and efficient, shooting 50.9 percent and earning 25 second−chance points.
The visitors jumped out to a 24−18 lead on two free throws with a little under 10 minutes to go in the first half, but it was the last time the Thoroughbreds would be in control. Tufts came back to tie it at 24 on an alley−oop dunk by Orchowski from senior tri−captain Matt Galvin. The play ignited both the crowd and the team — effectively rattling Skidmore's shooters for the remainder of the game.
The teams exchanged baskets for the rest of the half, but a timely 3−pointer from Goldfarb put the Jumbos up 37−36 at intermission.
"We had a good talk at halftime about maintaining a high level of energy and not letting up," Long said. "They had a couple guys that could really shoot the ball and we were drifting off them too far in the first half. … Essentially, we were leaving shooters open. We had too many possessions in the first half where we would play good defense for 20 seconds and then give up an open 3. … We just talked a lot about staying on shooters and preventing uncontested jumpers."
The Thoroughbreds answered briefly in the second half, evening the score at 41 just three minutes in. But Tufts pulled away with a 7−0 run and never looked back, extending the lead to double digits. Though Skidmore cut it to six with a small run of its own, Goldfarb put it away with a pair of 3s, making it 60−48.
After that, the Jumbos held strong defensively, never letting the Thoroughbreds within 10 points.
"At the end, we just stayed composed." Goldfarb said. "Last year, we had trouble closing teams out once we had a lead. We had a couple bad turnovers late in the game, but overall we were able to stay focused and just hit our free throws."
For at least one night, Tufts seemed to have solved the problems that plagued the team in 2009, including rebounding and distribution of scoring. But one issue reared its ugly head once again, as the Jumbos relinquished 27 points off turnovers — a total that will need to be quickly reduced. But Tufts has the tools to improve these issues, with a lot of young players proving their ball−handling skills throughout the game.
"I'd say the biggest thing we're going to have to do is take better care of the ball when we're trying to run on the fast break," Long said. "We're trying to get out on the fast break a little more, and that's going to lead to some turnovers. … I think some of that was first−game jitters, but we're going to continue to get out and run the ball more and we're just going to have to make better decisions on the break."
Tufts on Tuesday will travel to Regis for its second game of the season and will look to feed off its newfound energy and team cohesion to start the season at 2−0 — something that the program has not done in the NESCAC era.
"We're all excited," Goldfarb said. "As of now we don't know too much about Regis. We have great team chemistry this year on and off the court and we're just ready to turn it around this season."
