NESCAC Seminfinal: #8 Tufts at #2 Amherst

Who: #8 Tufts (9-14-2; 5-11-2 NESCAC) at #2 Amherst (18-4-2; 14-4-0 NESCAC )
Where: Orr Rink Amherst, MA
When: 4:00 PM Saturday 3/7/14
Video/Audio:  Northeast Sports Network   
Previews:  NESCAC   Tufts   Amherst   Tufts Daily 

Regular Season Stats

Overall  (Conference Rank)             Conference Games (conf. rank)
Offense: 2.46 G/GM (8th)                  Offense: 2.06 G/GM (9th)

Defense: 3.62 G/GM (9th)                  Defense: 3.50 G/GM (8th)

Power Play: 13/83 -15.7% (9th)        Power Play: 7/59 - 11.9% (9th)

Penalty Kill: 59.78 - 76% (8th)          Penalty Kill: 45/60 - 75% (9th)

Special Teams Net  -6 (8th)               Special Teams Net  -13 (10th)

Overall  (Conference Rank)             Conference Games (conf. rank)
Offense: 3.46 G/GM (3rd)                   Offense: 3.72 G/GM (2nd)

Defense: 2.12 G/GM (2nd)                  Defense: 2.22 G/GM (2nd)

Power Play: 20/77 -26% (3rd)            Power Play: 15/53 - 28.3% (1st)

Penalty Kill: 78/92 - 84.8% (1st)        Penalty Kill: 58/71- 81.7% (4th)

Special Teams Net - +8 (4th)             Special Teams Net - +6 (4th)

The Lowdown 

It's safe to say no one expected Amherst to be hosting NESCAC championship weekend. In a league where the highest remaining seed after the Quarterfinals hosts the final weekend, top seeded Trinity was supposed to cost to a victory over eighth seed Tufts and this weekend was supposed to be in Hartford for the second straight season. 

But the games aren't played on paper, as the adage goes, and so second seed Amherst gets the hosting duties after blanking Middlebury for the second straight weekend. Tufts rode a 44 save performance by NESCAC Player of the Week Mason Pulde (G, '16) to the 2-1 victory over Trinity to give Amherst hosting rights and earn the first ever trip to the NESCAC semis for the Jumbos. Tufts had lost its six previous NESCAC Quarterfinals appearance, including a 4-1 loss to top seed Amherst in 2009. The Jeffs moved to an even 13-13 record in the NESCAC playoffs with their victory over the Panthers last weekend. 

Amherst swept the regular season series between the two squads. In January, David White (F, '18) scored two goals, including the game winner with 26 seconds remaining, to help lift Amherst past Tufts and rebound from the Jeffs third period collapse against Conn College the night before, which remains Amherst's only loss at Orr Rink this season. 

Pulde made 37 saves in defeat, while Danny Vitale (G, '15) made 30 saves in the victory after taking over full-time starting goaltending duties from Dave Cunningham (G, '16), who went down with a season ending injury in the Conn College game. For the season, Vitale has the second best Goals Against Average (1.75) and the best Save Percentage (.942) in conference games. He didn't make either of the All-NESCAC teams, presumably because Cunningham started seven of the first eight NESCAC games. 

In the second meeting on Valentine's Day in Medford, Amherst ruined the Jumbos Senior Day by taking the contest 3-1. 

This past week, Tufts senior blueliner Blake Edwards (D, '15) earned his second All-NESCAC second team selection, while Amherst tied Trinity for the most All-NESCAC selections at four with Jake Turrin (D,'15) and NESCAC Rookie of the Year David White (F, '18) making the first team and Mike Rowbotham (F, '15) and Aaron Deustch (D, '15) making the second team.

Courtesy of Tufts "Jumbotron", below please find highlights from Tufts Quarterfinal victory as well as an interivew with Jumbos head coach Brian Murphy talking about the Trinity game and prep for the semis.



Keys to the Game 
Amherst just doesn't lose when they get out of the gates quickly, going a perfect 12-0-0 when they lead after 1 Period and holding a 15-1-1 record when they score first. The Jumbos are also a perfect 6-0-0 when leading after one, but a dangerous 1-10-1 when they trail after the first frame. To pull off the upset, the Jumbos cannot fall behind. 

Also, while Trinity outshoots virtually everybody, Amherst only outshot opponents in 11 of their 25 games. The Jeffs are 11-0-0 in such contests, so Tufts will need to do everything they can to play tough, block shooting lanes, and be weary of an aggressive and effective Amherst forecheck. On the other end, they will want to try and crash the net like they did to beat Trinity. The Jumbos aren't going to outskate Amherst, so they'll have to look to score goals anyway they can. And while Vitale has been great in net this year, he is as much a rookie to the semis as the Jumbos are.


Players to Watch (other than the goalies)
Brian Brown (F, '18) The Jumbos leading scorer was kept off the board against Trinity, but look for a goal from the Pembroke Pines, FL native if the Jumbos pull off another upset.

David White (F, '18) The First Team All-NESCAC selection and Jeffs leading scorer has scored five goals in his last three games. 

The team whose freshman scoring sensation gets on the board might get the last laugh in this one. Here's SoCal punk legends The Adolescents with "Last Laugh" off their 2014 release "La Vendetta" recorded when they were decidedly not adolescents.