Offensive success in weekend trip to Maine keeps hockey’s season alive

The Jumbos had arguably their best weekend of the calendar year as they took on the Bowdoin Polar Bears (6–16–2) and the Colby Mules (10–9–5) in their final two games of the regular season. With a 5–0 win to open the weekend against Bowdoin on Friday night and a 3–3 tie the following day in Waterville, Maine against Colby, Tufts secured the eighth seed in the NESCAC tournament. Tournament play begins on Feb. 23 when the Jumbos travel to Hartford, Conn. where they will face the first-seeded Trinity Bantams for the third time this season.

Though the players didn't know it at the time, they clinched their spot in the tournament before the end of their game against the Mules on Saturday once Conn. College had beaten Bowdoin in their matchup, making it impossible for either of the two teams to jump Tufts in the standings regardless of the outcome against Colby. The Jumbos still fought a mighty comeback to a 3–3 draw with the Mules to end the regular season.

On Saturday, the majority of the first two periods went in Colby’s way as they jumped to a 2–0 lead just under two minutes into the second period. Seven different Mules tallied points throughout the first 40 minutes. Junior forward J.P. Schuhlen, who netted the second goal for Colby, added another point to his column when he assisted first-year forward Mike Morrissey on the Mules’ third goal of the game, giving them a 3–0 lead.

The comeback for the Jumbos started just 45 seconds after the Mules added their third goal when senior captain Clay Berger scored a goal to cut the deficit to two. The second period scoring did not stop there for the Jumbos; sophomore forward Hayden Smith found the back of the net once more just under a minute later and 20 seconds before intermission.

“We actually didn’t know that we would have made NESCACs,” Smith said regarding the gritty comeback. “We were fighting for our lives trying to make playoffs.”

The heavy pressure in the offensive zone late in the second period for the Jumbos spilled into the third period as first-year forward Cal LeClair beat senior goaltender Mack Burton to tie the game at three apiece just over three minutes into the third period. LeClair’s goal gave him his second point of the game following his assist on Berger’s earlier goal, resulting in just the second multi-point game of his young career.

Neither team would add to the scoreboard for the remainder of the game as Tufts managed only three shots in overtime while Colby put the puck on net twice in added time.

“I thought we played very well,” coach Patrick Norton said. “We had a lot of chances to score ... early, we were doing a lot of good things,” Norton added.

Coach Norton also emphasized the importance of the penalty kill late in the second period that allowed the Jumbos to remain in the game.

The trip to Maine started off extremely well for the Jumbos as they outscored Bowdoin by five for the second time this season and held them scoreless, the team's first shutout since their Nov. 27 game against St. Michael’s (7–15–4).

Sophomore goaltender Drew Hotte had a huge night in net for the Jumbos as he saved all 40 shots that he faced for just his second shutout of the season. Bowdoin seemed to dominate the first period as they outshot Tufts 13 to six. However, only the Jumbos were able to find the net prior to the intermission as junior defenseman Jordan Haney scored his first goal of the season halfway through the period. Tufts waited almost another 20 minutes before adding to their lead when Hayden Smith scored his first goal of the season as well.

“It starts with our goaltending; Drew Hotte was great,” Smith said. “Having great goaltending like that really helped us and getting the first goal has always been pretty big for our team this year so not letting one up was great ... and we kind of just rolled from there.”

Although Bowdoin outshot Tufts 40 to 38 throughout the entirety of the game, the Jumbos were able to find the netting with relative ease as over 13 percent of the shots they took ended up behind sophomore goaltender Alex Zafonte. The Jumbos added three more to the scoreboard in the third period resulting in the lopsided 5–0 victory, keeping the hopes for a NESCAC tournament berth alive for another day.

First-year defenseman Trevor Spence beat the goaltender for the second time in his young career early in the third period, followed by Smith’s second goal of the evening — an unassisted, empty-net shorthanded goal to bring it to 4–0. Junior forward Machlan Sawden capped off the game’s scoring when he scored his third goal of the season with just one second left on the clock.

Tufts faces Trinity in the NESCAC tournament as the eighth and last seed for the second year in a row. The two teams faced twice earlier in the season: once to open Tufts’ season and again in the middle of January. The Jumbos fell 3–0 in the first matchup but battled to a 1–1 tie in the latter.

“I think we’ll be ready,” Norton said. “I think we’re excited to play them ... it’s not a game that we weren’t expecting; I think the guys are looking forward to the challenge.”