This weekend, the men's ice hockey team participated in the Rutland Herald Invitational, hosted by Castleton State College, but the Jumbos met an early exit when they fell 4−2 to SUNY Morrisville during Saturday's first−round play. Tufts redeemed itself with a 3−0 victory over Becker College in Sunday's third−place match, improving to 3−2 on the season.
In Sunday's game, the Hawks outshot the Jumbos 13−7 in the first period, but a strong effort from senior tri−captain goalkeeper Scott Barchard kept Becker off the scoreboard and enabled Tufts to take the lead at the 11:06 mark. Senior forward Evan Story scored the first of his two goals to give the Jumbos the 1−0 edge.
"The first goal was a lot about people being in the right spots, people going to the net and working hard, which is really how goals are scored today," Story said.
"We had a better start [on Sunday]," sophomore forward Kyle Gallegos added. "[Unlike] Saturday, when we started a little slow, we jumped on them early. That was a big help."
Tufts scored a goal in both the second and third periods, matching Becker with 22 shots on goal after the end of the first period. First−year defenseman Blake Edwards lit the lamp 6:49 into the second to give Barchard some insurance. Story put the game away with 58 seconds left, after the Hawks had emptied their net.
The Mustangs entered the game 1−4−1, while Tufts boasted a 2−1−0 record prior to the meeting. Morrisville came into the contest hot off a 3−3 overtime draw with national No. 2 Oswego State. For the Jumbos, the matchup came on the heels of two NESCAC wins and a one−goal overtime loss to non−conference opponent Curry College last Tuesday.
Tufts outshot Morrisville 35−25, but the Mustangs were tougher and capitalized on penalties to earn their second victory of the season and a spot in Sunday's championship game against No. 3 Castleton. Meanwhile, the Jumbos dropped to 2−2−0 overall and 0−2−0 in non−conference contests.
"Morrisville was a bigger, more physical team than us, and we weren't really used to it playing in the NESCAC," Gallegos said. "That was one of the things that threw us off a little bit. We're a pretty fast team, so I think we just need to take the puck to the net and use our speed to our advantage."
For the majority of the first period, momentum shifted back and forth between the two squads. The Mustangs got on the board first, however, when sophomore forward Ryan Marcuz fired a wrist−shot over Barchard's shoulder for a power−play goal at the 18:40 mark.
Early in the second period, the Mustangs capitalized on another Tufts penalty to double their advantage. Less than four minutes into the period, freshman Matthew Beer connected with classmate Patrick Stillar, who received the puck in front of the net and slipped a wrister of his own past Barchard for the Mustangs' second tally.
For the remainder of the second period, the Jumbos tried to narrow the deficit, and even watched as an unlucky shot sailed off the crossbar. However, the Mustangs tacked on another goal when freshman forward Eric Geertz rebounded the puck after a Barchard save and beat the Jumbos' keeper up top on a second look.
As the game entered the final period, Morrisville held a 3−0 lead. Two penalties on the Mustangs, however, gave the Jumbos a 5−on−3 advantage early in the stanza, and at the 7:28 mark, Edwards got a pass to Tufts' leading goal−scorer Kyle Gallegos. The sophomore directed a slap shot over sophomore keeper Colin Breen to put Tufts on the board.
As the third period wore on, the score remained 3−1 until the Jumbos pulled Barchard from goal in the final two minutes in an attempt to narrow the defecit. With 49 seconds left, junior forward Dylan Plimmer assisted Gallegos on his second slap shot score of the period.
The Jumbos continued to pressure as the clock ticked down and they trailed Morrisville by just one goal. But with 15 seconds remaining, the Mustangs scored on Tufts' empty net to extend their lead to 4−2, driving the dagger into the Jumbos' hopes of forcing extra time.
While Gallegos led Tufts' offensive efforts on the afternoon, Breen bolstered the Mustangs' defensive unit, posting 33 stops. Barchard finished the day with 22 saves, but he couldn't make up for Morrisville's threats or for his own squad's penalties, which consistently forced the Jumbos to play in man−down scenarios. Miscues in the Jumbos' defensive end also contributed to their undoing.
"I think we have to minimize blue−line turnovers and make sure we're winning battles around the blue line," Story said. "It's a tough place to turn the puck over and this weekend we didn't do as well as we could have getting the puck out when we needed to. That's something we really need to work on going forward."
Coach Brian Murphy's team now prepares to host conference opponent Williams in their home opener on Friday. Tufts hopes to stay perfect against conference opponents, while the Ephs look to steal their second NESCAC victory of the season from the Jumbos when they travel to Malden Forum this weekend.
