With only four games left in the season, and having spent the past two months without a win, the hockey team is ready to break the ice on a new kind of streak. Tufts has lost its last 12 games, but this weekend's two home matchups against weak opponents are an opportunity to finally get that elusive victory.
Tufts will first take on the University of New England (UNE) on Friday and then Southern Maine on Saturday.
The team will face these conference rivals coming off one of its worst losses of the season, an 8-2 blowout against Trinity on Feb. 5. In that game, Tufts fell behind 5-0 in the first period and never had a real shot to compete against a Bantam squad that is now 8-8-3 on the season.
A big reason for the team's struggles has been the absence of starting goalkeeper junior Scott Barchard, who has been out with an ankle injury since the Nov. 27 game against Brockport. Although it was initially thought to be a mild injury, it eventually forced Barchard to have surgery and miss the rest of the season.
"Obviously, it's not fun to watch a team struggle when you know you could be helping them," said Barchard, who went 1-2 before the injury abruptly ended his season. "Unfortunately, there was a lot of damage to my ankle and it was causing a lot of pain, so we finally just had to go in and clean it out."
Yet Tufts has a golden opportunity to break the losing streak in its first game of the weekend against UNE. The Nor'easters are only 4-16 in their stormy season and have only one conference victory, over Amherst. Moreover, UNE has been dominated in almost every statistical category, including getting outscored 51-108 and outshot 499-815.
"We just have to stick to our game plan," senior quad-captain Tom Derosa said. "We just need to control what we can control and finish the season on a positive note."
Southern Maine will present a similar type of opponent for Tufts — namely, one that has struggled to score goals this season and holds a similarly mediocre record in the conference. The Huskies, led by longtime coach Jeff Beaney, are just 3-10-2 in the ECAC and are another team that the Jumbos must beat if they are to have any chance at all of making the conference playoffs.
"We just have to go back to basics and keep working hard," Barchard said. "We just haven't been getting the bounces and getting the loose pucks, and that's going to change sooner or later."
The game against Southern Maine will also mark the last time that the seven seniors on the roster skate in front of the home fans at the Malden Forum. Especially for senior quad-captains Dylan Cooper, Tom Derosa and Andy Davis, it will be a bittersweet moment as they try to end their final season on a high note.
"It's been a lot of fun playing these last few years," Derosa said. "It's all coming to an end, but I know it's going to be enjoyable all the way down to the last minute."
Even though it will be the last home game for the Jumbos, the team still has two more conference away games next weekend, against St. Michael's and Norwich, which will give the seniors one last chance to get a win, if they don't snag one this weekend.
"We have to go out strong and support our seniors," Barchard said. "They've been through a lot this year, and we need to let them know that we're thankful for all that they've done for this team and this university."
