“Both Josh Sarlo and Drew Hotte have played well, and given us a chance to win games," Norton said. "Our zone defense has also been much improved.”
Since the season started back up in January, Tufts has been able to pinpoint many of its difficulties back to offense. The team has only reached the two-goal threshold three times in the past seven games and has yet to surpass it in 2019.Norton explained his team's offensive struggles.“We are struggling to score goals, and that is putting pressure on every other facet of our game," Norton said.
The team has a produced a few highlight reel performances thus far, with a number of stellar shutout performances nicely paired with notable offensive outbursts — but the trick is stringing those performances together. If the Jumbos can improve their offensive output, they could begin to climb up the NESCAC ladder.
“The youth [of the team] is playing a factor in terms of some of the mistakes we are making," Norton said. Tufts now sits at 5–10–1 overall, with a NESCAC record of 2–7–1, seating them at 9th place in the conference. Tufts is half a game behind eighth-seeded Bowdoin, an important distinction as the final month of regular-season play approaches. The NESCAC championship hosts the top eight seeds in the 10-team conference. The tournament starts on Saturday, Feb. 23.
Before the tournament takes off, Tufts faces a gauntlet of eight more NESCAC conference games. Each and every one of these games is crucial as the team looks ahead to the playoffs. With the exception of two meetings against last-place Conn. College, these games feature familiar opponents. In these games, Tufts went 2–4 and was outscored 21–17; however, these games included two massive victories over Williams and Bowdoin, 6–2 and 6–1 respectively.
"With only eight games left, every one is important," Sarlo said. "We are essentially in playoff hockey already with how competitive the NESCAC is."
The upcoming three-game stretch for the Jumbos will be looked back upon as a pivotal part of the season, for better or for worse. The Jumbos are gearing up for three consecutive home games against Williams, Middlebury and Conn. College. Notching even one win against these three conference opponents will markedly improve the Jumbo’s playoff prospects. Sarlo maintains that the squad is ready to perform.
"We have the right guys in our locker room to be successful in this league," Sarlo remarked. "After a seven-game road trip, it’s exciting to come back to our home barn and have an opportunity to make a statement this weekend."
The first of these games, against second-place Williams on Jan. 25, offers Tufts the opportunity to knock off a quality opponent and come away with a statement win. Tufts previously did so at Williams with their 6–2 victory way back on Nov. 30, and a repeat victory could give the Jumbos great momentum heading into the next two games. The Jumbos face off against the Ephs on Friday at 7 p.m.