Men’s Hockey Falls to Connecticut College and Tufts

Mateo Vazquez ’21

Sports Editor

This past weekend, the men’s hockey team went out in full force against Connecticut College and Tufts University, two very competitive teams within the league who have strong track records of consistent victories. Throughout the winter break, they had a great showing on the ice and did not lose a single game. On Friday, they hit the road to face off against Connecticut College. Trinity, ranked no. 1 in the nation at the time, holding a record of 12-2-1, had an advantage over Connecticut College, with a record of 8-7-1.

The game was quite physical and was exhilerating. The offense on both sides put up a lot of pressure on the defense very early on in the game. Within the first 13 minutes of play, both offensives had strong attacks. There were, however, multiple intense skirmishes throughout this first period, and although the Bantams had some leverage in certain scenarios, they were unable to push through the Camels’ attacks.

Not until after the first 13 minutes did the real action start. Both the Camels and the Bantams committed fouls, allowing for a four-versus-four situation. While neither side was too adventurous while being a man down, they both made a few attacks, but were very cautious of moving forward with the play. Just before Trinity’s penalty expired, the Camel’s defenseman Jacob Moreau acquired the puck in his own defensive end and made a rush toward the goal. He was able to out-maneuver the defense and make a sprint down the right side of the ice where he then back handed a shot past the goalie.

For the remainder of the game, the Camels and the Bantams continued to have numerous clashes over the puck, yet neither side was able to secure possession long enough to act and force a goal. In the last few minutes of play. the Bantams attempted to rally and return to victory. The amount of shots that the Camel’s defense came under was unquestionably astounding.
In the last 54 seconds alone, the Bantams attempted eight shots on goal. Unfortunately, they were not able to make the shot and lost the game 1-0.
On Jan. 25, the Bantams faced off against Tufts. The Bantams were hungry for a win after their loss on Friday against the Camels, and started out with a high press on the goal. Unfortunately, Tufts was quicker in applying the pressure and caught the goalie off the line, resulting in a goal for Tufts early in the match. Trinity responded quickly and within five minutes of play brought the game back to a tie. The entirety of this game was decided in the second period, however, in which Tufts continued to apply relentless pressure on the Bantams and crept away with a lead of two goals on the Bantams. In the last period, action was slow and neither side was able to make contact with the net. The Jumbos secured the win with a 4-2 victory over the Bantams, giving them a second loss for the semester.

Although the Bantams lost back-to-back games this weekend, the games account for only two of three total losses thus far in the season. This upcoming weekend they have two difficult matches against Hamilton and Amherst, additional competitive teams in the league that Trinity will have to defeat as a crucial step in maintaining their NESCAC conference ranking. These are both homecoming games, however, so we highly recommend that you go out and show your support as the team continues on through the rest of the season. The Tripod wishes the team the best of luck at their games this weekend!