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The Setonian
Sports

Fencing | Jumbos earn split decision in 3-3 weekend at home meet

February 10

The women's fencing team nearly had its first winning weekend of the season but fell just short, earning a 3-3 record this Saturday in Carzo Cage. All three losses featured narrow margins of defeat as Tufts hosted the second conference meet of the year, improving to 6-13 on the year and 4-6 in Northeast Conference action.

The Setonian
Sports

Men's Squash | Jumbos struggle in Maine

February 9

The men's squash team rounded out a tough showing at the Maine Invitational with just one victory over their three-game weekend slate. The nationally ranked No. 22 Jumbos fell to some of the NESCAC's most talented squads, Bates and Bowdoin, while squeezing out a close win over non-conference foe George Washington.

The Setonian
Sports

Men's Basketball | Playoff hopes down the drain after 0-2 weekend

February 8

Two wins this weekend could have solidified the men's basketball team's position in the NESCAC playoff picture. But after falling in two straight games — 84-70 against the Amherst Lord Jeffs Saturday and 86-80 against the Trinity Bantams Friday — the Jumbos have instead missed the NESCAC Tournament for the second consecutive winter.

The Setonian
Sports

Inside the NHL | Sharks and Bruins prepare for epic battle between league's top two teams

February 8

    The San Jose Sharks are coming to town on Tuesday, and many observers are already billing the matchup as a Stanley Cup preview. The Sharks and the Boston Bruins are the two best teams in the NHL, with San Jose tallying 79 points in 50 games and Boston racking up 85 in 54 games, putting them in a virtual dead heat atop the league.    The Sharks' balanced offense is led by former Bruin Joe Thornton. Known for his ability to distribute the puck, Thornton is third in the league with 45 assists this season and is one of seven Sharks to have tallied more than 10 goals. An efficient power play at 23.2 percent rounds out the offensive package.     On the other side of the puck, the Sharks have been excellent, allowing just 117 goals throughout the course of the season. No. 1 goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has gotten the majority of the starts, posting a 2.42 goals-against average (GAA) over 39 starts, while Brian Boucher has performed admirably as a backup with a 1.88 GAA and .927 save percentage. The defensive corps is both mobile and very capable of breaking out of its own end with the puck, sending waves of attackers on the offensive. San Jose's top four defensemen each have over 20 points.     The Sharks are stacked from top to bottom, which could mean a deep run in the playoffs. They play an excellent defensive system under new head coach Todd McClellan, who came over from the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings this season for his first job as an NHL bench boss. He is widely credited for the tight defensive system that led the Wings to their postseason success, and he has established a similar team system in San Jose.     Yet things seem to be going a little bit wrong. The Sharks have dropped their last three games, including an embarrassing loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in which the Blue Jackets stuck it to the Sharks right out of the gate, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes. The recent losing streak is somewhat worrying, though San Jose has just seven regulation losses on the season. The Sharks have struggled lately with giveaways, poor puck control and an inability to finish scoring opportunities. Against the Carolina Hurricanes, they had 17 giveaways, an unacceptably high number for a San Jose team that usually controls the puck very well.     Even the return of power play quarterback Dan Boyle, expected to provide a significant boost, has proven insufficient. Boyle returned to the lineup for the losses to Columbus and the 'Canes with one assist, a -2 rating and nine shots in 60 shifts. Despite Boyle's presence, the power play went just 2-for-15 against Columbus and Carolina, who are 19th and 22nd in the league on the penalty kill. The Sharks will need more from him and from the power play against the Bruins this week if they hope to beat the league's best team and ultimately be a serious contender for the Stanley Cup.     The Sharks have a history of playoff success, to a point. Since 1997-98, San Jose has missed the playoffs just once but has won just seven of the 16 series played. The Sharks have made it to the conference championship only once, in 2003-04, when they lost to the Calgary Flames in six games, and they have never played in the Stanley Cup Finals.     The hiring of McClellan was in part a reaction to the Shark's disturbing tendency to choke in the postseason. Last year, the Ron Wilson-coached Sharks were a trendy pick for at least a conference finals matchup with the Red Wings. They had a difficult time in the first round, beating Calgary in seven games before falling to Dallas in the second round.     This year's team is very similar in terms of personnel, but Tuesday's matchup with Boston will be a good indication of how San Jose will do down the stretch in the playoffs. If the Sharks can snap their losing streak by beating the Bruins, perhaps they can illustrate to their fans that this season will be different.

The Setonian
Sports

Women's Swimming and Diving | Jumbos give top performances in final tune-up before NESCACs

February 8

    The women's swimming and diving team took full advantage of the strength of its competition this weekend at the Middlebury Invitational at MIT, posting top times across the board despite sitting numerous competitors out of their best events. Since the meet was not scored, the Jumbos had swimmers who will not be competing at NESCACs swim in their best events while Tufts' top racers took the opportunity to swim in unfamiliar races.     "Since we're so close to NESCACs, we were just trying to switch it up," senior tri-captain Katie Swett said. "It's definitely psychological, especially since we just finished the end of our hard training. If I was tired this weekend and didn't do well in my best event, it would hurt me psychologically. It's better to leave your good events for the big meet."     "I like to generally stay away from my event the meet before the conference championship," sophomore Megan Kono added. "You can get into a funk because what's done is done. It wouldn't have been detrimental for me to swim my events, but I think that if it had been a bad race, it would have been harder for me to get back up and have the same confidence that I have now going out of the regular season on such a high note."     The exceptions were the divers, who performed solidly yet again for the Jumbo squad. Junior diver Lindsay Gardel returned to her winning ways, sweeping both the 1- and 3-meter events. An All-American last year, Gardel looked poised for a return to the NCAA meet in March, blowing away the competition with scores of 191.20 in the 1-meter and 202.65 in the 3-meter. Classmate Kelsey Bell followed suit, finishing second in both events, not far behind Gardel.     "The divers have been [having a] really crucial season even though we're not always on the same page with them because they train at MIT," Swett said. "We have depth in swimming, but most teams don't have depth in diving. Most teams are lucky to have two, and we have six outstanding divers, so we're really appreciative of the hard work they've done so far."     While the Jumbos did not post many other winners throughout the two-day event, they were consistently present in the top spots. In 12 out of the 20 events — excluding individual time trials — Tufts placed at least one swimmer in the top three. Freshman Annie Doisneau was the big winner in the pool for the Jumbos, placing first in both one individual event and one relay.     The stiff competition included NESCAC rivals Middlebury and Williams and local foes Northeastern and MIT, yet the rookie Doisneau continued her outstanding campaign by taking first in the 200-yard individual medley, outdistancing MIT senior Jen Chao by just two seconds. Her final time of 2:13.71 improved on her field-leading seed time by over two seconds as well. Earlier in the meet, Doisneau was the third leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay team, combining with freshmen Courtney Adams and Valerie Eacret as well as sophomore Maureen O'Neill to take first in 3:41.01. Not far behind was the team of Kono, Swett, junior Meredith Cronin and freshman Paulina Ziolek, which finished second.     Kono, taking a break from her usual long-distance swims, placed second in the 200-yard backstroke despite being seeded fifth entering the final race. The Tufts record holder in the 1000- and 1650-yard freestyle, Kono turned in a 2:13.90 final time at MIT, four seconds better than her original seed time.     Likewise, O'Neill enjoyed a refreshing change of events, departing from her staple 50-yard freestyle to take part in three additional second-place relay teams. In the Invitational's first final, Swett, Eacret, O'Neill and Cronin took second, falling behind MIT's "A" squad by just .16 seconds.     O'Neill, Adams, Ziolek and Doisneau closed out the meet with a runner-up finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, navigating the waters in 1:40.75. Cronin, Ziolek, Eacret and O'Neill placed second in the 200-yard medley relay as well. Rounding out the top finishers for the Jumbos were Swett in the 1000-yard freestyle and junior Lyndsey York in the 1650-yard freestyle, both of whom finished in the runner-up slot.     Most notably, however, were the performances turned in by some of the swimmers deeper on Tufts' roster, the ones who have already begun tapering and resting their bodies for the end of the season. Still, their ability to succeed at the Middlebury Invitational should prove to be an inspiration for the rest of the squad.     "It was a great indicator as to how well the girls who have already tapered did," Kono said. "To see people like freshmen Emily Anderson and Hannah Henderson, [sophomore] Abby Fuller, and [senior] Perry Ross, who did amazing[ly] … that's such a great indication that the rest of the team can do well."     Now, with the dual meets and invitationals behind them, Tufts turns its attention to the biggest meet of the season: the NESCAC championships at Bowdoin. Although the Jumbos have seen national powerhouse Williams twice to this point, they have yet to face Amherst, the defending national runner-up — a team whose only loss, much like their own, has come at the hands of the Ephs.     The Jumbos competing at NESCACs will begin tapering in the upcoming weeks, resting their bodies in order to be at full strength before the championship push. But that is not to say that Tufts' mind is not squarely fixed on NESCACs, focusing in a total effort to cement its place as one of the best in the conference.     "It certainly doesn't mean that we're going to take our minds off NESCACs," Swett said. "We're at the pool the same numbers of hours, but we're doing some more visualization drills and doing more resting, working on the small things like starts and turns. We'll be scoring across the board with our great depth, so I think everyone is just excited to go out and see how they can do."      

The Setonian
Sports

Jumbos find their winning touch

February 5

After a three-match skid to close out the NESCAC tournament, the women's squash team got back to winning with an 8-1 trouncing of a struggling Wellesley team.

The Setonian
Sports

Gideon Jacobs | The Pooch Punter

February 5

"There's one reason that I'm standing up here on this stage today, and that's because of my Lord up above. I gotta say thanks to Jesus. [The crowd at University of Phoenix Stadium goes wild.] He knew I was going to do it," Kurt Warner said after winning the NFC championship.

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