In its last regular-season matchup, the women's squash team took a thrashing from the nationally ranked No. 9 Brown Bears. But with Nationals on the horizon, the Jumbos have picked themselves up by the bootstraps to train, condition, and scrimmage in their brief break before the Howe Cup this weekend.
Looking Back (FEB. 8) | Los Angeles Lakers 101, Cleveland Cavaliers 91
It was the same old story for the women's basketball team Tuesday night, as Tufts defeated conference foe Trinity, 62-46, in a non-conference matchup at Hartford, Conn. The Jumbos had beaten the Bantams in a NESCAC game by a similar margin, 64-42, at Trinity's Oosting Gymnasium just last Friday.
In an early indicator of its likelihood at landing an NCAA Tournament bid, the women's basketball team drew the No. 2 spot in the first NCAA Northeast Regional poll, which was released yesterday. The weekly poll is used by the NCAA selection committee at season's end to help allot Pool C at-large bids to March Madness. If the Jumbos do not win the upcoming NESCAC Tournament and earn the conference's automatic bid, the rankings suggest they are in prime position to earn an at-large bid for the second year in a row. Two other NESCAC schools joined the Jumbos in the poll. Fresh off its victory over Tufts Saturday afternoon, nationally ranked No. 9 Amherst took the top spot behind the strength of its sterling 20-1 in-region record. The only team to beat the Lord Jeffs this year was Bowdoin, which came in fourth in the regional poll. National No. 16 Tufts' appearance in the poll stems from the team's 17-3 record against the 18th-toughest schedule in the nation this season. The Jumbos have played all four of the teams who join them in the top five, posting wins over Bowdoin and fifth-ranked Eastern Conn. and losses to Amherst and third-ranked Brandeis. Tufts has two more regular season games left before the first round of the NESCAC Tournament tips off on Feb. 21.
Looking Back (FEB. 8) | Los Angeles Lakers 101, Cleveland Cavaliers 91
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.
On Feb. 2, to the chagrin of many New Englanders, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. But for a Jumbo skiing team a late-season tear, nothing could be better than six more weeks of winter.
It was a tough weekend for the ice hockey team as the Jumbos dropped two games to NESCAC opponents Trinity and Wesleyan while still trying to keep their playoff hopes alive with just two weekends to go in the regular season.
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.
P rint media is in trouble. The paradigm shift from traditional media to the Internet has changed the way sports are viewed and covered.
Every year, the week leading up to the NBA's All-Star break stirs up arguments of who should or shouldn't have made the team. But this year, as the league's finest gear up to head to Phoenix for a weekend of fun in the desert, one of the most significant trade deadlines in NBA history is looming just two weeks away.
There were positives in the women's squash team's weekend results. You just have to squint to see them.
In the words of former NFL coach Herman Edwards, you play to win the game.
Senior quad-captain James Bradley jumped over the competition at this weekend's Tufts Invitational III, establishing himself as the best high jumper in New England in the process.
When the men's swimming and diving team last visited MIT on Jan. 24, junior diver Rob Matera qualified for Nationals. When Tufts headed back to MIT this weekend for the Middlebury Invitational, sophomore diver Trevor Stack followed suit.
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 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.
Forty minutes of stagnant play cost the women's basketball team its spot atop the conference.
