After a tough loss in its home opener against Curry College on Nov. 23, the ice hockey team aimed to stabilize its play over Thanksgiving weekend at the Rutland Herald Invitational in Rutland, Vt. The Jumbos ended up with much to give thanks for, including a thrilling comeback against Brockport College (N.Y.) and a dominating 6-3 win over Becker College (Worcester).
The Jumbos came into the tournament on Friday with a 1-2-0 record, and in the first round faced the Golden Eagles, who entered with a 0-8-0 tally. Desperately trying to earn its first victory of the season, Brockport came out of the locker room firing, as junior forward Ian Finnerty pounced on a breakaway and slotted home a shot at the 10:03 mark of the first period.
The Golden Eagles kept the pressure on, forcing junior quad-captain Scott Barchard to make two point-blank saves before the end of the period. Tufts fought back valiantly in the second period, though, with senior quad-captain Dylan Cooper tallying a power play goal off a brilliant pass from senior Zach Diaco.
Brockport immediately bounced back and regained its one-goal advantage after Finnerty scored again, this time off a rebound from Tufts junior back-up goalie Evin Koleini. Koleini was in just his second appearance of the season after coming in to relieve Barchard, who suffered a minor ankle injury earlier in the game.
Despite its inferior record, Brockport had a commanding 3-1 lead at 12:18 of the third period. But Tufts refused to back down, quickly pulling within one after senior quad-captain Tom Derosa converted on a rebound at 13:41.
It seemed the comeback effort would be all for naught, though, as Brockport held on to its lead into the last minute of the game. Yet just seconds after Koleini had been pulled from the goal for an extra attacker, Derosa struck again with only 16 seconds remaining on the clock, to tie the score at 3-3 and send the contest into overtime.
"It was great to get that goal," Derosa said. "I just got a pass from Diaco and put it on net, and fortunately, it found the far corner, and it was great to finish the comeback with a goal like that."
Tufts eventually failed to advance in the tournament after losing a shootout, but the contest goes down as a tie in the overall season standings.
"It shows the type of character we have, coming back from the deficit like that," senior quad-captain Andy Davis said. "We really picked up the intensity and took the game to them, especially in the last two periods."
"Evin played really, really well off the bench," added Derosa, who finished the tournament with four goals. "He stopped the first three shots of the shootout, and that's all you can really ask for from the goalie, but we just weren't able to score."
In the consolation game of the tournament on Saturday, Tufts faced the Becker College Hawks, who came into the game with a 2-3-2 record. Derosa again led the Jumbos charge, this time opening the scoring with a goal after only 1:04.
"It was just a great feeling to finally be able to play with a lead," Derosa said. "We had to get the scoring started early, and that gave us a cushion for the rest of the game."
Derosa's point not only handed the lead to Tufts, but seemed to open the floodgates — just 30 seconds later, senior forward Mike Vitale doubled the Jumbos' advantage off a wrist shot, followed by a power play slap shot tally from junior forward Igor Fedorov for his first collegiate goal, adding to the Tufts lead at 8:39.
Becker managed to put one goal past Koleini before the first period ended, but Tufts wouldn't let the Hawks back in the game. In the second period, Derosa added another goal, and talented freshman forward Kyle Gallegos quickly scored twicejust before the second intermission, bringing the score to 6-2 and effectively silencing any chance at a Becker comeback.
The Jumbos' record now stands at 2-2-1 — certainly respectable following an early-season schedule that has included road games against two tough NESCAC foes and a tournament over the traditionally quiet Thanksgiving holiday. The Jumbos are now looking to build off that success this weekend, as they take on New England College (N.H.) and St. Anselm (N.H.) at home in the coming week.
"They're definitely two really big games, games that we have to win," Davis said. "Hopefully we'll have some good fan support, and it'll be good to finally play a good series of home games."
