Tufts upsets Trinity to open NESCAC playoffs

Heavy underdogs going into the game, Tufts (9-14-2) defeated No. 2 Trinity (21-3-1) for the program's first victory in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC tournament. Tufts will advance to take on No. 10 Amherst, while Trinity's season is at the mercy of the NCAA selection committee.

"We kind of put our stamp on history," senior forward Tyler Voigt said.

The Jumbos' motto has been a blue-collar approach to the game and confidence in the players' abilities.

"We can beat any team on any given day and I think we’ve just proved that this past weekend,” Voigt said. “Everyone bought into what the coaches were telling us. We came in prepared and just did it out there on the ice. Everything came together.”

The final score (2-1) did not accurately portray the excitement of the Saturday contest on Williams Rink in the Koeppel Community Sports Center. Neither team was able to score in the first period despite the Jumbos earning a few decent looks, including junior tri-captain forward Stewart Bell's shot on a penalty kill.

Tufts capitalized at 10:54 in the second period when sophomore forward Matt Pugh found the bottom right corner of the goal behind junior goalie Nathaniel Heilbron. First-year forward Scott Majkowsky was credited with the assist.

Unwilling to enter the third period with a deficit, Bantams first-year forward Anthony Sabitsky answered back off a rebound at 19:07 in the second. Sophomore forward Ryan Cole and senior defenseman Paul Burns assisted.

With the score tied 1-1 in the third period, Tufts' promising season and Trinity's dominant one hung in the balance. Deep in the Bantam's zone just four minutes into the period, junior defenseman Dominic Granato collected the puck and fired a shot that Heilbron saved. Then, at 4:43, Voigt had the perfect opportunity. The Bantams failed to clear the puck and it found its way to Voigt, somehow left open. His aim true, Voigt buried his shot behind the scrambling Heilbron.

“It was kind of just a scrum in front of the net and I just wanted to shoot it on net and try and put it in as fast as I could," Voigt said. "It ended up going in. It was awesome. I had a lot of adrenaline and it was fun, to put it simply.”

There were still over 15 minutes left in the game, however, and the first-seeded Bantams desperately needed a goal to force overtime. They could not have asked for a better chance when sophomore defenseman Sean Kavanagh was called for charging with just under two minutes left in the game. Kavanagh leads the team in time spent in the box, and this penalty undoubtedly hurt the Jumbos. Regardless, coach Brian Murphy has consistently found Kavanagh's elevated play to offset his penalty accumulation.

"[Kavanagh] is an all-league type of player," Murphy said. "Anybody in the league would want him on their team. I think it’s a tough call; he was being physical.”

Coach Matthew Greason elected to call a timeout following the penalty and pulled Heilbron for an extra skater. However, Tufts sophomore goalie Mason Pulde survived the onslaught -- Trinity shot 25 times in the third period alone -- and the Tufts ran out the clock. The Bantams finished the game with 43 shots on goal; the Jumbos with just 25.

"Shots [on goal] is the most overrated statistic in hockey," Murphy said. "We kept them on the perimeter for the most part. [Pulde] played great. We knew they’d have a major push, which they did and we did a great job clearing. We knew they were going to outshoot us. It’s shots from quality areas that count.”

Holding Trinity to just one goal was no easy accomplishment. Trinity boasts three of the NESCAC's top five point scorers on the season. Cole, junior Michael Hawkrigg and senior Jackson Brewer are the first, second and fourth NESCAC point leaders, respectively. Also, Cole, Hawkrigg and sophomore forward Sean Orlando are tied for second-most goals in the league with 14 each, behind only Amherst first-year David White, who has 18. Tufts first-year forward Brian Brown ranks sixth with 13 goals. Pugh is the only other Tufts player in the top 30 for goals. Brewer, Cole and Hawkrigg are first, second and third in the league for most assists.

“We made some adjustments over the course of the week," Murphy said. "We worked on penalty kill. Their power play is one of the best in the country and they went 0-5.”

Trinity has scored on 26.9 percent of its power plays -- the second-best rate in the NESCAC after Bowdoin -- but Tufts' effort on the penalty kill prevented Trinity from scoring on any of its five power plays.

“We made a little adjustment on our forecheck, but nothing new in zone," Voigt said. "I guess we just worked a little harder to clear pucks out and to block shots this week and it really helped us out.”

The Jumbos are excited by the program's first playoff win, but they are now focusing all of their attention on the Lord Jeffs.

"If we can win one more game we have an opportunity to compete for a championship," Murphy said. "It’s a big win, but really we are just going to build on it as we look to Amherst. For us to be in the NESCAC final four is fantastic. I feel like [the] Tufts community should be more aware of their high achievers, their fantastic young men.”

The teams will face off at Amherst on Saturday. After defeating one of the best teams in the country in the first round, the Jumbos have made a statement to the rest of the league that they are not to be taken lightly.