In its first weekend of ECAC East/NESCAC conference competition, the ice hockey team won an exciting 6-4 victory against St. Michaels only to lose to a stellar Norwich squad 10-2. The first game of the weekend pitted together two teams that had moved up from the ECAC Northeast conference in the offseason.
The St. Michaels Purple Knights jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but back-to-back goals by the Jumbos put Tufts back up on top in the second period. Freshman Gino Rotondi notched Tufts' first goal of the season and the first of his collegiate career 1:28 into the second period. Junior tri-captain Mike Carceo added another two minutes later. The Purple Knights responded with a pair of goals to close the period though and led 3-2 entering the final frame.
Sophomore Pat Byrne led a fourth period surge, as Tufts came from behind and scored four goals in the final stanza to win the game. Byrne scored only 14 seconds into the period and freshman John Hurd added another goal less than a minute later. Byrne and Rotondi both scored again before the night was over, and Tufts began its season undefeated.
Senior Ian Kell, returning from his year abroad, played well in goal, notching 35 saves. With a promising start to what will probably be a rebuilding year, half of the goals and six of the 11 assists came from freshmen. Rotondi ended the game with a pair of goals and assists, Hurd had a goal and two assists, Shawn Sullivan had two assists and Adam Zussman added another.
While the 6-4 victory was nice, Tufts defeated the Purple Knights 7-2 last year in the middle of a seven game winning streak to kick off the season. This year the winning streak ended as a single game, as the Norwich Cadets, ranked sixth in the nation entering the game, easily disposed of the Jumbos 10-2. The ten points was the most the team had given up in almost two years, when it lost to Oswego State on Nov. 28, 1999 by the same 10-2 score.
The Cadets saw scoring from eight different players and led 9-0 after two periods. The shutout was broken up by Carceo, and Byrne added another goal towards the end of the fourth period. In all, Norwich out-shot Tufts 51-16. Sophomore Ben Crapser, last year's starting goalkeeper, began the game in goal and made 31 saves. Kell took over in the third period, making nine saves and only letting one puck slip past him.
The Norwich debacle was not the way Tufts wanted to start its season, especially considering that the team lost only one regular season conference game all of last year. This will probably be a harbinger of things to come in the future though, as the team will face many of the top ranked teams in the country.
The Jumbos will have a temporary reprieve over the holiday weekend, as they try to defend their title at the Coca-Cola Classic at Stonehill this weekend. The team will play Framingham State on Saturday and either Stonehill or UMass-Boston on Sunday.
