With just over half of the regular season under its belt, Tufts has ascended in the rankings, placing at No. 2 in the NESCAC conference with a .688 winning percentage, a 7-4-3 overall record and a 5-2-1 conference record. Tufts defeated Hamilton 3-1 on Saturday and ended Hamilton’s 13-game streak without a loss. The game was an important rebound for Tufts, after a tough 4-1 loss to Amherst the previous day.
Hamilton is ranked first in the NESCAC conference standings with an 11-1-2 overall record and was the team to put the first puck in the net. During a Hamilton power play at 16:37 into the first period, senior defender Conor Lamberti scored to put the Continentals ahead. Tufts was quick to respond with a short-handed goal less than two minutes later at 18:11 by sophomore Clay Berger. At 7:06 of the second period, Berger scored again, allowing the Jumbos to take the lead 2-1.
Late in the third period, the Jumbos sealed the game after senior tri-captain Sean Kavanagh sent the puck into Hamilton’s zone. It rebounded off of the boards behind the left post into the front of the net, where first-year Tyler Scroggins was able to fend off a Hamilton player and score the final goal of the game with 40 seconds left. Senior goaltender Mason Pulde had an impressive 39 saves compared to Hamilton’s junior goaltender Evan Buitenhuis, who made 20 saves, and Hamilton outshot Tufts 40-23.
Some players surmised that the loss to Amherst the night before facing Hamilton actually helped the team’s mentality.
“Obviously we had a tough game against Amherst, but we are mentally tough and good at bouncing back," Pulde said. "So we were focused on having a good response to Friday night, and we weren’t focused on winning as much as we were focused on responding to the tough loss."
The Jumbos did not see the same success against the Amherst Purple and White. They struggled with turning the puck over at the blue line and affording Amherst many odd man chances. At 14:01 of the first, Amherst scored the first goal of the game on a five-on-three power play after junior Tyler Granara’s slap shot was redirected into the net by senior tri-captain Chris Roll.
Amherst increased its lead at 5:00 of the second period after capitalizing on a two-on-two situation and scoring off of a rebound after the initial save by junior goaltender Nik Nugnes. The Jumbos were able to answer with a goal from senior Patrick Lackey at 8:51 in the third period as junior Trevor Davis hit a shot from the point that Lackey was able to tip to the top right corner. Amherst scored twice more to seal the 4-1 victory in the last two minutes of the game, with the third goal at 17:57 of the third from junior Will Vosejpka, and the final empty net goal with eight seconds left.
According to junior forward Brian Brown, the team did not execute their typical game plan against Amherst.
“We turned the puck over at the blue line, which is a killer because it creates odd man chances for them, and we weren’t executing our d-zone," Brown said. "We also were not playing physical enough."
This middle stretch of the season has had its ups and downs for the team. Just before the break, Tufts fell to Bowdoin 4-0, only to bounce back the next game and hand Colby its first NESCAC loss of the season, defeating them 3-1. Against Colby, the team saw goals from Scroggins and Brown on power play, and junior Oliver Takacsi-Nagy.
“When we see teams like Hamilton and Colby that are highly ranked, we bring more energy to the game and the guys get a little more excited to play these games, and that showed on the scoreboard,” Brown said. “Our goal is to bring the same effort that we do against these highly ranked teams to be more successful in the second half of the season with that same mentality”
After the break, the team returned to compete in the Endicott Invitational, where they fell to Plymouth State 3-2 and tied Neumann 3-3 in the consolation round.
“It had been a while since we had won a game and we were trying to re-find our team identity,” Pulde said. “Neumann is a top 15 team in the nation. They are obviously really talented. It had been a month since we had played, so we are shaking the rust off and that showed at the invitational.”
Following the invitational, the team tied St. Michael’s 2-2 in overtime with goals from first-years Jordan Haney and Anthony Farinacci. Both goals were assisted by first-year Cory Gottfried.
The team will travel to Connecticut this weekend to face Trinity on Friday before taking on Wesleyan on Saturday in a pair of vital NESCAC games.
Jumbos Finish Winter Break With Win, Sit at Second in NESCAC
