A Weekend of Battles: 10/27/10

This past weekend was a tough one for the Jumbos, who played two incredibly physical games in a 24 hour span, on opposite sides of New England. On Saturday night, the Jumbos took on defending champions Rhode Island College. Despite a strong opening 10 minutes, the Jumbos fell apart at the end of the first period, spotting the Anchormen a 6-2 lead. The rest of the game proved to be a war of attrition as the Jumbos' comeback attempt was met with equally strong opposition from the anchormen, with both sides taking a multitude of penalties in the 3 hour game. On Sunday, a tired Jumbos squad rolled into vermont. Despite looking exhausted early, Tufts found their second gear in the second period and tied the game at 5. After a scoreless third, the Jumbos won the game in overtime off of a beautiful fast break combination between Tomo Yokose and Mark Brenckle. Strong goaltending by Julian Bloom, relentless forechecking by the entire squad, and balanced scoring made the win possible. Next, the Jumbos look forward to a rematch against the US Coast Guard Academy Bears in their home opener on Saturday.