Tufts swept by Connecticut College in key conference matchup

Conn. College outmuscled Tufts 2-1 on Feb. 6 at Valley Forum in Malden, and then again 4-1 the next day at Dayton Arena in the two teams' annual home-and-home series. Despite the disappointing losses, Tufts' record of 7-12-1 and 4-9-1 in conference has them holding steady in the eighth and final playoff spot, just above Colby (5-12-3, 2-9-3) and below Middlebury (8-9-3, 1-13-0).

"[The Camels] weren't scouted as physical, but we ended up having a pretty physical game, especially on Saturday," junior forward James Randaccio said. "They're quick; they move the puck up the ice really quickly. 'They score a lot in transition' was our scouting report going in."

Based on the physicality of the weekend's games, this season's playoff push has begun.  The two teams combined for a total of 19 penalties over the weekend, of which Conn. College contributed 10. Tufts served more time in the penalty box, however, thanks to unsportsmanlike conduct by sophomore defenseman Sean Kavanagh, worth 10:00 minutes in the second period of Saturday's game.

"[That was] a bit uncharacteristic for us to be honest," Randaccio said. "I don't know how many of them were good penalties or not, but we took a couple offensive zone penalties and two of them hurt us -- one was a really nice power play goal from up top."

The second game saw both teams score in the first period, but senior defenseman Mark Roper's power play goal put the Camels up 2-1, roughly 13 minutes into the first period. Neither team scored in a hotly contested second period that included penalties for slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct, hitting after the whistle and boarding.

Conn. College essentially put the game away when junior forward Tim DiPretoro converted another power play in the third, although elbowing and double roughing were called after the goal. The Camels' fourth and final goal was scored by senior forward Zach Jones against an empty net.

Freshman forward Brian Brown had a nice goal for the Jumbos in a losing effort.

"Brian Brown scored a fantastic breakaway goal on a great pass from [junior defenseman] Brian Ouellette, who hesitated and then split the [defense] on a pass, and [Brown] deked the goalie out of his jock-strap," Randaccio said of Tufts' lone goal.

In the Valley Forum game the day before, Tufts appeared to dominate the majority of the first period, getting off a dozen shots on Conn. College's junior goalie Tom Conlin, but it was Conn. College who struck first when sophomore forward Joe Giordano broke away and scored on a pass from classmate Ryan Mowery at 10:06.

Tufts sophomore goalie Mason Pulde recovered to make many difficult saves and block a shot from an all-alone DiPretorio at the beginning of the second period. Six minutes into the second period, however, the Camels scored again. This time, Birmingham netted one off a DiPretorio assist. Senior forward JC Cangelosi also assisted.

Tufts junior forward Keith Campbell put the Jumbos on the board after a tricky behind the back pass from sophomore forward Mike Leary. Junior forward Luke Griffin also earned an assist. Tufts had plenty of good looks throughout the game, leading shots on goal 31-27, but it just couldn't get past Conn. College.

"I don't think we made enough plays to give ourselves a chance to win the game," coach Brian Murphy said. "In the first and second period, we didn't do what we needed ... We didn't win enough battles on the wall. I just talked to the team, and we played 20 minutes of hockey, in my opinion, the way we need to to win games."

Pulde and the Tufts defense were able to stay within one point in the face of multiple Conn. College fast breaks, but despite emptying the net with under two minutes to go, the offense couldn't convert.

"Mason Pulde made the save of a lifetime on a three-on-two that we were all staring at an empty net for, and he dove across," Randaccio said.

Tufts is now susceptible to a Colby resurgence and could be knocked out of the playoffs should Colby make up the current two point difference. The Jumbos, however, are committed to avoiding such a collapse at all costs.

"Down the stretch, everybody in February is playing at top speed," Randaccio said. "Especially these [next four games] -- it's definitely a desire game at this point. Tensions run high, people are making playoff pushes and everybody is vulnerable."