Over the winter vacation, the men's hockey team battled through two overtime contests and two tough conference matchups, improving to 6-6-1 on the season.
Tufts followed an early January tournament win by splitting their second home weekend doubleheader of the season, moving to an even 4-4 in the NESCAC.
Friday night, the Jumbos fell 7-1 at the hands of conference rival Amherst before scoring a late victory over NESCAC newcomer Hamilton the following afternoon, as sophomore Kyle Gallegos, the Jumbos' leading goal-scorer, buried a late tally to lift Tufts over the Continentals in a 4-3 decision.
"We're all feeling good about our record so far, but we know we still have a lot of work to do," Gallegos said. "Obviously, we don't feel that Amherst is six goals better than us, and we were very disappointed in the effort against them. Moving forward, I think we'll continue to improve and be able to present more of a challenge to the NESCAC teams with better records as well as winning the games we are expected to."
Against Hamilton, the Jumbos jumped to an early two-goal lead on a pair of first-period scores from sophomore Garrett Sider and junior Dylan Plimmer that came within less than a minute of each other.
Hamilton then took the lead when senior Anthony Scarpino tallied his team's third goal at the 14:03 mark of the first period, but it took Gallegos just 34 seconds to tie the game once more.
"I think that during the first period both teams were running around on the ice with very little defense and that's why six goals were scored in such a short span," Gallegos said. "My first goal was a good example of that because there was a big pile-up in front of their net and I was left open to bang in the rebound."
In the final period, both sides had ample scoring opportunities, but the Tufts and Hamilton defenses killed three penalties each, and the score remained locked until the closing minutes, when Plimmer and senior Evan Story assisted Gallegos, who netted his second goal of the game and a game-winner.
"Both teams settled down and were much more conservative as the game progressed," Gallegos said. "Late in the third we were just coming off a power play so I think Hamilton was a little out of position, and I was able to get open for Dylan to give me a pass for a one-timer that snuck by their goalie."
The previous evening, Tufts struggled to find its rhythm throughout and ended a two-game win streak as Amherst burned the Jumbos by a six-goal margin. The Lord Jeffs built a 6-0 lead, and gave up just one score in their thrashing of the host Jumbos, which included multi-point games from seven Amherst players.
"We played them close in the first period, but came out flat footed in the second. They took advantage of it and had the momentum the rest of the game," freshman defender Shawn Power said.
Gallegos, returning from a back injury, gave the Jumbos some solace with a goal at the 15:14 mark, but Amherst junior Nick Brunette put the cap on the win just a minute later.
A week before, the Jumbos ended their weekend on a much higher note, scoring the team's first tournament victory of the 2011-2012 season. On Jan. 7, the Jumbos met with UMass Boston in the finals of the 47th-annual Codfish Bowl, and defeated the host Beacons in their second overtime scenario in as many days. The previous afternoon, Tufts beat Johnson & Wales University 3-3 in shootouts.
The Beacons, who came into the matchup on the heels of a 9-0 hammering of Southern New Hampshire in the opening round, outshot the Jumbos 43-17, but came up nearly empty after Barchard recorded a sensational 42-save effort to preserve Tufts' victory.
The Jumbos were penalized nine times, including five in the second period, but the Beacons were unable to capitalize on four power-play opportunities.
"We we're able to kill their power plays because we work on it a good deal in practice and that really came through when we needed it. I'm sure everyone was pretty beat going into the final overtime but we all wanted to win and getting a quick goal made it a lot easier," Power said.
It took the Jumbos just 28 seconds to score once their second overtime contest of the weekend began. After junior forward Dylan Plimmer won the faceoff for the Jumbos, Plimmer and freshman forward Tyler Voigt assisted junior defenseman Jared Barker on the winning score, Barker's first goal of the season.
"The boys worked hard and didn't crumble in the pressure situations, which is the sign of a good team," said Gallegos, who sat out the tournament with an injury. "In overtime, it's always good to get pucks to the net no matter what part of the ice you're on and that certainly paid off for us against UMass Boston."
In the first round of the Codfish Bowl, Tufts defeated Johnson & Wales in a shootout to advance to the finals against UMass Boston. The Jumbos grabbed an early lead when sophomore forward Garrett Sider scored a power play goal fewer than four minutes into the contest, and pushed it to 2-0 when Plimmer scored in the second period.
In the final period of regulation, the Wildcats tied the game at the 6:42 mark on a score from senior Tony Galante. Following a goal from Tufts sophomore David Carson, Beacons defenseman Trevor Jewell notched the equalizer on a power play with less than three minutes remaining.
Both teams missed their first shootout attempt, but after the Wildcats missed their second, Plimmer finished a shot past Cooper to give the Jumbos the advantage. Johnson & Wales missed its third try, automatically sending Tufts to the next day's finals.
The Jumbos now prepare for another home NESCAC doubleheader. On Saturday and Sunday, Tufts faces Trinity and Wesleyan, both of whom they defeated early in the season.
"Going into this weekend against Trinity and Wesleyan we know that they're going to be two different teams from opening weekend," Gallegos said. "I think special teams are going to be the key for both games because both of those teams can be undisciplined. We have to stay out of the box and capitalize on the opportunities they give us."
