After enduring a two-month-long, 12-game losing streak, the ice hockey team split its final two home games of the season this past weekend at the Malden Forum. The weekend, in many ways symbolic of the entire season, had its ups — the Jumbos broke their losing streak Friday with a dramatic 6-5 win over the University of New England (UNE) — and its downs, as Tufts was then thrashed by Southern Maine 5-1 on Saturday
Saturday's game was indicative of the problems that have plagued the Jumbos over the past few months, namely, falling behind by too many goals early in games and not having the firepower to return the favor later. Southern Maine got the scoring started just six minutes into the first period, when sophomore forward David Niles blistered a shot past freshman goalie Brian Phillips, who was playing in just his seventh game of the season.
The Jumbos were also hurt by four penalties, which led to numerous chances for the Huskies. And although Southern Maine only scored one power-play goal, that tally came at the most critical juncture of the game, extending the lead to 4-1 late in the third period.
"Our penalty-killing has not been good, and we've been taking some not very smart penalties," senior quad-captain forward Dylan Cooper said. "When you take penalties like that you're just shooting yourself in the foot."
But regardless of the result, Saturday's game will be remembered more as the final home game in the careers of the team's seven seniors. Cooper, defender Conor Pieri, quad-captain defender Andy Davis, forward Mike Vitale, forward Zach Diaco, quad-captain forward Tom Derosa and defender Fredrik Mellgren were all honored before the game, and will look back fondly on four years that included two consecutive runs to the NESCAC tournament, in 2009 and 2010, that both ended with losses to the eventual tournament champion.
"We definitely wanted to win the game [against Southern Maine], so that was disappointing," said Davis, who has registered four goals and four assists on the season. "But on the other hand, it was nice to have one last game at home with my teammates."
The final tribute to the seniors was made even sweeter by the fact that Tufts had broken its seemingly interminable losing streak the night before with a thrilling 6-5 victory against UNE. After overcoming a 5-3, second-period deficit, Vitale broke a 5-5 deadlock with a goal 4:28 into the third period to give Tufts the victory.
"We gave up a couple power-play goals to let them get the 5-3 lead, but once we got to five-on-five, we played much better," Cooper said. "We really took it to them in the third, and it showed the amount of character that this team has that we were able to come back, especially because there have been so many times this year when we haven't been able to rally when we're behind."
The conclusion of the game was just as thrilling as the comeback, as the Nor'easters pulled their goalie and scored with 11 seconds to play. But the goal was disallowed because the net had come off its moorings.
The net was off for almost 30 seconds, so I guess the referees just didn't notice it," Davis said. "When the puck went in, it was clear the net was off, so to give the goal would have been the wrong call."
The win, the Jumbos' first since a 4-3 victory against St. Anselm on Dec. 4, 2010, was marked by several stellar offensive performances. Four Tufts players finished with multiple-point games, including Derosa and junior foward Matt Amico, who each had two assists. Diaco had a pair of goals and freshman forward Nick Pappas scored his first two goals of the season, while Phillips earned his first collegiate victory with 26 saves.
The team, now with a record of 5-15-1, will finish its season with two games in Vermont. Tufts will take on St. Michael's on Friday before closing out the year against Norwich the following day.
We just want to finish strong, play hard and play well," Davis said. "If we do that, there's no reason why we can't end the season with two more wins."
