LPfan2004 debut: Tufts gets routed by Endicott

Aaaannnd we are back, baby! Our apologies for the radio silence over the last month as the travails of the holiday season and life events have tripped us up at HITC headquarters. We will be back at it this week, but first, a debut from 13 year old junior HITC correspondent, LPfan2004, with a  recap of Tufts loss to nationally ranked Endicott College yesterday in a tournament consolation game.

As part of the W.B. Mason Winter Classic men’s hockey tournament hosted by the Plattsburgh State Cardinals, the Endicott Gulls faced off against the Tufts Jumbos in a consolation game for third place in the tournament. In the first round, the Jumbos lost 5-1 to Plattsburgh State. The Gulls tied Babson 1-1, but lost a penalty shootout to move on to the final round.  Mark Specia made the start in net for Endicott , with rookie Drew Hotte making his seventh appearance this season for Tufts . 

The first half of the opening frame proved  uneventful, with neither team getting a goal or a power play. There were three time stoppages, and only ten shots taken by both teams. The next ten minutes had much more action, with Brian Brown of Tufts scoring his third goal of the season with 4:59 left in the first period. The goal came after Endicott netminder Mark Specia came out of net and slipped on the ice;Tyler Scroggins and Peter Hatton earned helpers on the tally. Endicott responded with 1:17 left in the period. The goal was scored by Logan Day, his tenth of the season, and it was assisted by Josh Bowes and Jason Kalinowski.

Endicott wasted no time in the second period, scoring less than two-and-a-half minutes in. Luke Rodgers got the  goal, his sixth of the season, and he  was assisted by John Carricato and Anthony Petrella. Tufts got their first two-minute power playabout three minutes later , but they could not convert and get a goal. Endicott scored two quick goals in the middle of the second period, one by Jack Musil with 11:15 left, and the other by Daniel Kucerovy with 10:12 left. Musil’s goal, his seventh of the season, was assisted by Luke Rodgers and Carter Horwitz, while Michael Heidkamp and Jack Kilty earned helpers on Kucerovy’s, the fifteenth of his junior campaign . The period ended with Endicott’s Jake Simons getting a tripping penalty, which gave Tufts another two-minute power play that would begin in the third period.

Tufts could not convert their power play, but conceded one 4:51 in because of a Jordan Haney holding  call. This power play was not converted by Endicott, who subbed in Justin Ketola at goalie to begin the third period. Endicott had a great third period, including Ross Olsson’ s seventh and eigth goals of the season. The Gulls had two other goals in the period, one from Josh Bowes, his tenth of the season, and the other from Thomas Daniels, his sixth of the season. After Bowes’s goal with 9:57 left, Ryan McConnell subbed in  for Drew Hotte  at goalie for Tufts.. These four third period goals made the final score 8-1, with the Endicott Gulls cruising to an easy victory over the Tufts Jumbos . The Gulls won the shots on goal battle handily, 42 -26. (Box Score) 

It has been a rough first half for the Jumbos (1-9-1; 0-5-1 in NESCAC), who began the season with what appeared to be realistic dreams of a home playoff game in their head. The Jumbos have struggled in all aspects on the ice, including reigning All-NESCAC second team goalie Nik Nugnes posting a 4.22 Goals Against Average and sub .900 save percentage in six contests.

The Jumbos wrap up out of conference play against the very same Endicott Gulls on Tuesday at home before returning to conference action, also at home, against Amherst and Hamilton next weekend.

LPfan2004 is also a PATDfan2004, so here is Panic at the Disco with Nine in the Afternoon in (dis)honor of the nine goals scored in this one. The album the song is on, Pretty.Odd, was released when LPfan2004 was four years old, which makes me feel Pretty.Old.