The hockey team went into its winter break riding a four-game winning streak, but after losing two of three, finds itself 6-4.

“Our two recent losses were against two good teams, both of which are in higher divisions,” junior assistant captain Dan Mahoney said. “We kept it close but just didn’t get the bounces. I don’t think that it’s anything major…we should be able to get right back on track.”

The most recent of the defeats was suffered at the hands of Connecticut College, a 5-3 loss this past Tuesday. The underdog Jumbos kicked off the scoring in the first period with senior forward Mike Stuart’s first goal of the season.

That lead would not hold up in the second period, however, as the Camels blitzed Tufts with four consecutive goals. Parker Sides scored two of Conn. College’s goals, including one short-handed. The offensive attack surprised the Jumbos, but they did not quit.

In the middle of the third period, senior forward Scott Sullivan and defenseman Mahoney scored 38 seconds apart to pull the Jumbos to within a goal. That hope was shut down by Conn. College’s Dave DePalma, however, as his goal at 13:57 capped the scoring.

Tufts out-shot the Camels 37-32, but Camel goaltenders Judd Brackett and Brett Roth combined for 34 saves. Sophomore Ian Kell, who has seen the majority of action in the Tufts net, had 27 stops. Kell’s record on the year dropped to 5-4 with the loss, while his save percentage decreased to 85.3 and his goals against average (GAA) climbed to 4.88.

“We were down, but we didn’t give up,” Mahoney said. “The fact that we came back is indicative of our team’s work ethic and determination.”

Sullivan, who had an assist on the Mahoney goal, notched two points on the night to bring his total to 16 on the year. Freshman forward Rob LaQuaglia got his tenth assist of the season on Sullivan’s third-period goal. The freshman is the team’s leading scorer with 18 points.

Tufts’ gritty play against a strong Connecticut College team came on the heels of a dominant 6-2 victory at Western New England. LaQuaglia got things started with his first of two goals five minutes into the opening period.

“Rob’s been a huge addition to our team,” Mahoney said. “He’s playing extremely well and, like most of the freshman, has adjusted quickly.”

The Jumbos added to their narrow lead in the second period with four goals in just 11 minutes. Mahoney started the onslaught with a goal four minutes into the period from LaQuaglia and Sullivan. Sophomore forward Jordan Karp scored his first goal of the season seven minutes later on a pass from senior defenseman Pete Schieffelin to bring the score to 3-0.

With less than five minutes left in the period, LaQuaglia and junior Scott Hayes scored within six seconds of each other to put the game away. LaQuaglia’s goal, his second of the game, came via a Sullivan pass, while Hayes’ score was off of Karp’s third assist of the year.

Western New England could not muster a goal until the final minute of the period, as Gary Whittier scored an unassisted power-play goal. Jeff Gilbert duplicated Whittier’s performance early in the third period when he knocked in another power-play goal on an assist from Eric Badeau.

Just to squash any hopes of a comeback, Sullivan scored with three minutes left in the game to cap his three-point night. Carceo got his second assist of the game on the play.

The dominant performance was clearly evident in the shot discrepancy, as the Jumbos out-shot their opponents 41-23. Kell had 21 saves in his fifth win of the season.

“Ian is playing really well, although his GAA might not be reflective of his performance,” Mahoney said. “We had a tough weekend up in Maine at the beginning of the season. Now he is settled down and it’s really great to have him behind us.”

In their first performance over winter break, the Jumbos brought a four-game winning streak into Middletown, Conn. on Jan. 11 for a showdown with Wesleyan. Coming off of an idle month, the Jumbos’ rust showed late in the game, as Wesleyan scored three goals in the third period to notch a 7-4 win.

Like they had done in all three games over the break, the Jumbos grabbed the early lead, this time on a goal from Hayes four-and-a-half minutes into the contest. The Cardinals answered with two of their own first-period goals, leaving the Jumbos trailing heading into the second.

Both teams put two shots in the in back of the net in the second period. The Jumbos tied the game at two with Carceo’s eighth goal of the year and later tied the game at three on senior captain Drew Carleton’s goal. Tufts could not hold on to the tie, as Kevin Hardy’s third goal of the game, coming with under a minute to go in the second, brought the score to 4-3 heading into the final period.

The Jumbos’ only goal came on another Carleton score, but it was not enough, as the Tufts defense could not stop Dave Hogan. The Wesleyan forward notched two third-period goals and had five points on the night.

Tufts was out-shot 36-32 in the loss, and was beat by a streaking hockey club. Wesleyan, after starting out the year 0-4-2, has gone 5-0-1 over its last six contests.

“The general feeling is that we have a really legit shot at taking our league,” Mahoney said of the remainder of the season. “Playing tougher teams is going to help us to prepare for the games that really count.”

The Jumbos remain unbeaten in the ECAC Northeast Division, and take their perfect record to division foe Johnson and Wales on Saturday at Harvard.

“They are a pretty good team, so it’s going to be a tough game,” Mahoney said. “But if we play our game we should be fine and come out on top.”