The hockey team moved over the .500 mark with a 6-2 win over Stonehill College on Saturday. Freshman Rob LaQuaglia netted two consecutive goals for the Jumbos, as he and other rookies began to show that they have earned a place on the ice.

“Stonehill is not a bad team, but we came out and played our systems and really took it to them early,” senior captain Drew Carleton said. “We played in their zone 80 percent of the time.”

Junior assistant captain Dan Mahoney began the Jumbos’ offensive dominance with a power play goal eight minutes into the first period. Carleton followed with another power play tally later in the period to push the Jumbos’ lead to 2-0. The Chieftains then responded with a late goal in the first and an early second period goal to tie the game.

“They came out in the second with momentum,” Mahoney said. “They were really fired up and there was a lapse in our overall team defense. Once we settled down a bit and played with a little more control, we were fine.”

Stonehill’s success ended there, however, as it did not take long for the Jumbos to break the tie. Senior forward Scott Sullivan scored the team’s third power play goal just two minutes later. From there, the Jumbos would never look back.

With Tufts holding a slim 3-2 lead, LaQuaglia broke things open. He found the net on a breakaway at 6:57 of the second and then added another goal at 1:23 of the third to give the Jumbos a 5-2 advantage. Junior Scott Hayes secured the Tufts’ second straight victory with a goal at 4:56 of the third period.

“We had a bunch of mental lapses in the third period and took some penalties, so we played a lot of the third short-handed,” Carleton said. “It’s just a matter of discipline.”

Over the past few weeks, the Jumbos’ defense has shown much improvement, and Saturday was no exception. Sophomore goalkeeper Ian Kell was stellar in goal. While the Chieftains fired 26 shots on net, Kell only allowed two to get past him, finishing the game with 24 saves. After Stonehill’s two goals, Tufts’ defense shut down four Chieftain power plays in the third period.

“I am pleased with the way we played Saturday,” Carleton said. “We saw more production out of our freshmen. Rob [LaQuaglia] got a couple of goals and had several chances at a third. It was a real nice balance of scoring as all lines came out and executed.”

Members of the squad feel the players are meshing well, both physically and mentally. “We know that we are a good team and that if we play hard we can beat most teams,” Mahoney said.

“We’re starting to play as a team, and if we can continue to do so, we’ll be in real good shape down the road.” Carleton said.

Second year coach Brian Murphy also appears to have found a niche among his players.

“[Murphy] is doing a great job,” Mahoney said. “He’s really approachable and knows the game well. We really respect and appreciate him.”

Tomorrow night, the Jumbos (3-2) will face Salve Regina at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the team will match up against Nichols College at 3:30 p.m. The players will look to head into winter break with a 5-2 record.

“If we don’t take them lightly we should come out with a victory,” Carleton said of the traditionally weaker Salve Regina. “The Nichols game on Saturday should definitely be a victory for us, since they don’t have a very strong team.”

Mahoney is pleased with the team’s progress thus far and is optimistic for the next few games.

“If we play our game, we really shouldn’t have a problem,” he said. “We should come out with two victories.”