Despite coming from down three goals in the third period to upset the 6th ranked Williams Ephs in their Saturday match-up, the Cardinals have been mathematically eliminated from the NESCAC playoff hunt.
Will Bennett ’07, team points leader and a primary threat of the Wesleyan offense, netted a pair of third period scores and collected a second period assist in a dramatic come-from-behind effort by the Cardinals. The assistant captain and 2003-2004 NESCAC Rookie of the Year has remained dangerous for the Cardinals despite tighter defensive pressure and a persistent shoulder injury that has kept him out of top form for most of the season. Friday night Bennett and the boys were unable to get anything going at all as the Cardinals were shut out 6-0 by Middlebury in a game that saw the team put only nine shots on net.
With wins worth only two points apiece and Tufts (8) ahead by five as the Cardinals prepare to host the Jumbos and the Camels of Conn. College in the season’s final games this weekend, no amount of heroics will be able to pull the Cards into contention.
The 2004-2005 season has been one of frustration for this young team, as inexperience and injury have been unkind to the Red and Black, and an inability to consistently generate offense has left the team vulnerable to the league’s more veteran teams.
Captain Chris Gateman ’05 and the squad have looked at this season as a journey and a process from the beginning, knowing that their best hockey was not something that was going to come to them immediately. In the last two weekends the Cardinals have hung tough in a tight loss to top ranked Trinity University, put up nine goals in a victory over Castleton St., and come away with a pair of ties against Skidmore and Williams, picking up crucial points in the season’s waning hours and demonstrating their ability to play with the league’s best.
“You gotta give Tufts credit,” Gateman said. “They did what they had to do and got themselves a berth. We took another big step Saturday, coming back against a tough team late in the game and on the road. I knew this team could play great hockey all year.”
Unfortunately, the Cardinals may have found what they were looking for a few weeks too late. Tufts, in position to secure the final playoff spot from 8th position in the league at the start of last weekend, picked up huge league wins over Amherst and Hamilton at home, collecting four points and solidifying their position in the final playoff spot. Had the Jumbos lost in either of the two contests, this final weekend could have presented an opportunity for the Cards to ride their momentum right into the hunt for a NESCAC title. As is, the team will have to look at the games ahead as an opportunity to knock the wind out of Tufts as it heads into the post season, and continue to play good hockey despite the inevitability of their season’s end.
“The guys are disappointed,” Gateman said. “It’s tough. I’m disappointed this is going to be the end of my last season, but the year was never about me, it was about the younger guys and making progress. This group has done some good things.”
Adding to the sting of the weekend’s developments was the injury to sophomore forward John Delgiudice ’07. After making a play to move the puck up ice, Delgiudice took a clean hit from a defender and hit the boards with his neck. Skating off the ice under his own power, the extent of the sophomore’s injury would not be clear until later that evening, when hospital x-rays showed a partial fracture of the seventh vertebrae in Delgiudice’s spine. Despite the grave nature of the injury, he has not lost any mobility and is expected to make a full recovery.
As the Cardinals head into their final weekend, the team is not ready to lie down yet.
“We’re a proud team,” Gateman said. “We’ll put our best out there and try to close the season out with a bang. Going into your next season, you always remember your last few games, so hopefully we can continue to play solid hockey and get a couple of wins. 14 points would be pretty good for a team this young.”
The Cardinals would need to sweep the weekend to finish with 14 points overall. The first game will take place Friday at 7 p.m. against Conn., and Tufts will visit Wesleyan home ice Saturday at 3 p.m.
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