Tufts to face Amherst in NESCAC semifinals

After Tufts (9-14-2) shocked the NESCAC world with its 2-1 upset over top-seeded Trinity, the team will move on to face the 19-4-2 NESCAC No. 2 Amherst Lord Jeffs in the conference semifinals.

On Saturday, Amherst prevented an upset from Middlebury by defeating the tournament’s seventh seed 3-0. Middlebury surprisingly outplayed Amherst for the first 30 minutes of the game, outshooting the Lord Jeffs 11-2 in the first period. Both goalies continued their solid play for the majority of the second period.

Amherst first-year forward David White netted his 18th goal of the season in the 16th minute of the middle period, and that would be all the Lord Jeffs needed. White and senior goalie Danny Vitale have been the stars of this Amherst squad throughout the season, and their performances in the team’s quarterfinal victory solidified that fact.

White, arguably the NESCAC’s top rookie, leads the entire conference in goals scored this season and is tied for fourth in total points with 31 in just 25 games. In addition to White, Amherst features one of the conference’s best passing teams with a NESCAC-leading eight players surpassing the 10-assist milestone this season.

The Lord Jeffs’ netminder, Vitale, has had a spectacular senior season, leading the conference in both goals allowed per game (1.73) and save percentage (.942). While Vitale’s season statistics are stellar, he has been playing at an even higher level since the season begun winding down. Over the past five games, he has allowed 0.80 goals per game and has shutout three of his last five opponents.

“At this point, all the goalies are top goalies. We're not going to change anything about our game facing the Amherst goalie,” junior defenseman Dom Granato told the Daily in an email. “We just have to crash the net and get traffic in front of the goalie. That's how Stewart Bell and Tyler Voigt created the game-winning goal against Trinity.”

Amherst has faced and defeated Tufts twice this season with the more recent contest ending in a 3-1 Amherst victory on Valentine’s Day. One major difference between this weekend’s matchup and the Feb. 14 game will be Tufts’ goalie. First-year Ryan McConnell started in net last month, but this weekend sophomore Mason Pulde, who stifled the potent Trinity offense on Saturday, will be protecting the twine against Amherst.

Pulde’s performance last weekend will be remembered for a long time among NESCAC hockey fans. He had 42 saves, including 25 in the final period, and held a team that averaged 4.24 goals per game during the season to just a single second period score. His play earned him the honor of NESCAC Player of the Week. On Saturday, Pulde will be facing the third highest scoring offense in the conference (3.44 goals per game).

In addition to their high-scoring attack, the Lord Jeffs also have allowed the second fewest goals per game (2.04) and have the NESCAC’s top penalty kill unit (85.3 percent). As was the case last week, Tufts is facing an opponent that is nearly perfect on paper, but if the team could beat top-seeded Trinity, there is no reason to believe that Tufts cannot compete with Amherst this weekend.

If Tufts continues its Cinderella run past this weekend, it will go on to face the winner of the Williams-Conn. College matchup. Tufts has never won a NESCAC hockey championship, let alone a semifinal game, so this weekend’s game will be a huge step in the right direction for this budding program.

“The most crucial factor is for our team to play just as we did this past Saturday. We came together and played as a team, everyone stepped up and everyone contributed. We all played a great game, but I think we can be even better,” junior forward Keith Campbell told the Daily in an email. “There were times where we weren't playing 100 percent, and I think if we improve on that and put together a full 60 minutes, we are going to be tough to beat. We need to stay confident, but humble, knowing that any team can beat any other team on any given night.”