After an 11 game undefeated run that made them the number seven team in the Division III nation, the men’s hockey team is in a slump, going five games in a row without a win.
The streak began with a 1-3 loss to Trinity College, and continued as they tied Wesleyan 2-2 and Amherst 3-3, lost 1-6 to Hamilton. Last Friday night, after a well-played, high energy, back-and-forth match, they fell once again, losing 5-4 to conference rival Babson College.
Despite the frustrating lull, the Huskies seem to be maintaining their composure. “This happens to every good team,” said senior goaltender Ryan Sullivan (Newton, MA), who played in two of the five games, “it’s nothing to be worried about.”
He and freshman Jon Rutt (Scarborough) both agree that they would rather this came now, rather than later in their season.
After their tie to Wesleyan, Rutt, who had one goal and one assist in the game, was only optimistic, “We still have two months to righten this. We just need that edge.”
Following the Wesleyan game, head coach Jeff Beaney was less forgiving. “If they don’t want to put the effort in, they’re not going to win. You can’t just show up and expect to win, which is what they’ve done these past few days.”
After taking their first 11 games by storm, going 10-0-1, Rutt agrees that the team “felt spoiled.”
Playing Babson on Friday, it looked as if the Huskies had come out of their slump-the game was fast, and the Huskies were able to answer after every goal Babson scored.
The Beavers scored the first goal of the game at 6:45 in the first period, to be equalized about two minutes later as junior Eric Morgani (Reading, MA) scored off a pass from junior Dan Gordon (Lynfield, MA). The Huskies took the lead on a goal from sophomore Pat Noonan (Burlington, MA), and entered the second period ahead 2-1.
From there it went back and forth, Gordon and Noonan both answering after Babson’s second and third goals.
The game turned after Babson successfully killed a five minute penalty, after which the Huskies couldn’t gain enough momentum to overcome the seemingly faster, stronger Beavers.
“After they killed that penalty, they looked good,” said Sullivan. “We kept at them, we never gave up, but Babson is a good team. They’re always in the top four in the conference, same as us, and they’re well coached-same as us. Today, they just got all the bounces.”
It was a game that seemed it could still go either way until the final buzzer, with every man skating hard and strong. Beaney pulled Sullivan out of the net toward the end of the game, but their advantage was lost after they took two penalties in the last minute.
“It will all come together,” said Sullivan, “We’re a great team, with lots of great kids. We work hard from September through March, we put our lives into this. There is nothing in the locker room that would make you think we were doing like we are right now. No one is pointing fingers.”
Finishing a series of home games, the Huskies play at the Gorham arena at 7 p.m. on Friday versus Colby, who they beat 4-3 earlier this month. Saturday, they play again at home against Bowdoin at 4 p.m. Standing 10-3-3, the Huskies were ranked 11th in the nation in the most recent NCAA Division III standings.