Sports
Men’s hockey serves Tufts jumbo serving of redemption
By Dave Meisel '13, Sports Staff Writer
February 16, 2012
The Continentals split their games this weekend in wild fashion.
Though the Continentals are out of contention for a top-half finish in the NESCAC this season, they had a chance on Feb. 11 and 12 to gain some ground on Wesleyan and Trinity, whom the Continentals trail by two games and one game, respectively, in the standings. The success they experienced this weekend was somewhat unexpected.
Hamilton had not won a game in a month heading into Friday’s home matchup against Connecticut College. Incidentally, it was the Camels who Hamilton had last beat in a 4-1 affair on Jan. 13. What transpired was easily the most demoralizing loss of the season for the Continentals.
Conn took Sage Rink by storm and pummeled the Continentals, 8-1. They took their first lead 6:44 in to the first period on a power play goal and never looked back. It wasn’t until the Camels held a 5-0 lead that Hamilton got on the board. Anthony Scarpino ’12 scored his 15th goal of the season 3:25 into the third period, but Conn had plenty more offense in store. They put up three more goals in the final 16:35. The difference in the game was both teams’ power play performance. The Camels scored on four of their nine power play attempts, while the Continentals scored on just one of seven attempts.
The loss dropped the Continentals to 7-11-3 and 3-10-2 in the NESCAC, but they bounced back with an upset win over Tufts on Feb. 12. Having lost to the Jumbos 4-3 on Jan. 14, Hamilton completely turned things around by thrashing Tufts 6-0. Joe Quattrochi ’14 put on a clinic, stopping 43 shots for his seventh win of the season. Michael DiMare ’14 and Pat Curtis ’15 both scored twice in the game. For DiMare, the goals were his team-leading 15th and 16th of the year and team-leading 32nd and 33rd points. Curtis’ two goals gave him seven on the year. Evan Haney ’14 and Anthony Ruberto ’13 chipped in Hamilton’s other goals, their fourth and sixth of the season, respectively.
After finishing first in the NESCAC last season, it’s definitely been a disappointing season for the Continentals. They can take away a few positives from the season so far, though.
They went 4-1-1 in out-of-conference play this season and won the Skidmore Invitational Championship. Their youth has impressed this year, with DiMare and Curtis both in the top four in scoring for the team to this point. And though they’ll lose the valuable leadership of seniors Bryan Kelly, BJ Lalonde, Anthony Scarpino and Sam Choate, they retain the core of their team. It has been a struggle for the Continentals in Rob Haberbusch’s first year as head coach, but there’s no doubt they will be able to build more chemistry for next season.