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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Ice Hockey | Jumbos attempt to continue successful NESCAC run against Trinity, Wesleyan

After winning the last two home games of the regular season, the Jumbos are heading into the weekend with high hopes. With an exciting 4-2 victory over Hamilton College on Saturday afternoon, the Tufts hockey team gave coach Brian Murphy the 75th victory of his career with the Jumbos, making him the program's all-time win leader.

The jump in level of competition in NESCAC play resulted in more losses than wins in the previous three years, but the Jumbos have displayed signs of progress every season. Tufts qualified for the NESCAC Tournament in each of the past three seasons, and this year's 11-10-1 overall record is the best since 2000-01 and includes a 4-2-1 mark against NESCAC teams. With the win on Friday, Tufts improved its chances of securing a spot in the upcoming conference tournament.

Tufts also came out on top against Amherst on Friday night, 4-3. The Jumbos overcame three power play goals by the Lord Jeffs (10-9-2, 8-6-2) to pick up the W. The freshmen class came up strong, as Joe Cappellano and Greg O'Connell both scored and fellow classmate Ross Gimbel had assists on both goals. Freshman James Kalec was solid again in goal for Tufts, making 27 saves to earn his sixth win.

"Those two wins last weekend against Amherst and Hamilton are huge and we look to build off them as we go into this weekend," sophomore Matt Dalton said. "We know we're playing two good teams this weekend and that we have to go out, work extremely hard, and play as a team, just like we did last weekend."

The Jumbos' wins comprised the team's first weekend sweep of NESCAC competitors since joining the league. Tufts looks to continue its league run this weekend as it takes to the road, battling Trinity, the No. 1 team in NESCAC, on Friday and going head-to-head with Wesleyan on Saturday.

Last year, the Bantams handed Tufts their most lopsided loss of the season, downing the Jumbos 11-1. Junior captain Kenny Cleary had the lone goal for the Jumbos in a losing effort. Trinity's ice hockey team, which has a regular season record of 17-2-2 and sits in first place with a four-point lead NESCAC at 13-2-2, climbed to a best-ever national ranking of No. 6 nationally.

Tufts had considerably more success against Wesleyan last year as they pulled out their final win of the season, 2-0. The Jumbos hope to have an easier time against the Cardinals, as they are ranked behind Tufts in the NESCAC and are 4-16-2 overall.

Looking forward, once the two away games are over, the Jumbos will start gearing up for the playoffs. Last weekend's victories further helped the Jumbos' chances of earning one of the eight spots into the upcoming NESCAC playoffs.

"We've actually had a playoff mentality the past few weeks, treating every game and practice like it was the playoffs," Dalton said. "But as of right now, we're just focused on this weekend."