Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2000

HOCKEY TO HOST JOHNSON & WALES IN PLAYOFF QUARTERFINAL

MEDFORD -- For the first time since the 1988-89 season, the Tufts University hockey team will host an ECAC Playoff game. With only tonight's game at Assumption remaining in the regular season, Tufts (11-9-1, 9-3-1 ECAC Northeast) has secured third-place in the Division and will play sixth-place Johnson & Wales (13-11, 7-6) in the playoff quarterfinals on Saturday (Feb. 26) at Babson College. Face off is at 7 pm.

Though the game is at a rink that Tufts hasn't played in this season, hosting it breaks a string of tough luck in the post-season for the Jumbos. In their last three playoff appearances, Tufts has had to travel to Saint Michael's College in Vermont last winter and to Skidmore College in upstate New York in 1995 and 1996. They lost all three games. Tufts last played a home playoff game on March 1, 1989, losing to Fitchburg State 3-2.

"Our guys deserve at least one home game in the playoffs," said head coach Brian Murphy, whose rink-less team jumps from place to place for practices and games every season. "We hope our fans make an effort to get over there in big numbers to support the team because no one's worked harder than us this season. A big crowd and a playoff atmosphere would really spark our guys."

Johnson & Wales will be a tough first-round opponent. The Wildcats have won six of their last eight games entering their season-finale versus Stonehill tonight. The Jumbos beat JWU, 5-3, on January 22 in a game that was tied, 3-3, until sophomore Jordan Karp (Roslyn Heights, NY) scored 7:48 into the third period.

"They've been playing very well recently," Murphy said of the Wildcats. "They beat a good UMass-Dartmouth team twice this season, so we'll have our hands full."

Other playoff qualifiers in the ECAC Northeast (in no particular order) are Fitchburg State, Wentworth, Lebanon Valley, UMass-Dartmouth, Salve Regina and either Plymouth State or Western New England, who meet to decide which team goes to the post-season tonight. The semi-finals will be played on Wednesday, March 1, and the championship game will be played on Saturday, March 4. The winner of this year's ECAC Northeast playoff tournament will gain an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

Senior Scott Sullivan (Tewksbury, MA/Tewksbury) leads the Jumbos in scoring with 34 points (15g, 19a), scoring 11 of his goals in 13 conference games. Captain Drew Carelton (Shaker Heights, OH/University School) has been red-hot lately after a mid-season slump and leads the Jumbos with 22 goals (14 in league play), six on the powerplay (tied for team lead with Sullivan).

Freshmen Mike Careco (Belmont, MA/Belmont) and Rob LaQuaglia (Medford, MA/Belmont Hill) were immediate contributors to the offense. Careco has 28 points this season and is second on the Jumbos with 18 assists. His 13 assists in ECAC games leads the Jumbos. LaQuaglia, who missed four games with a knee injury, has scored 24 points (11g, 13a) in his first season at Tufts.

The Jumbos also got a boost with the return of junior Natan Obed (Goose Bay, NFLD/Helena Ice Pirates) from an injury. Karp stepped in and produced in a bigger role as a sophomore this year.

The Jumbo defense has been strong at both ends of the ice this season. Junior Dan Mahoney (Tewksbury, MA/Tewksbury), an ECAC Northeast Player of the Year candidate, leads the Tufts blue-line corp. He has 4-13-17 numbers this season. Also among the veterans on the Jumbo defense are senior Pete Schieffelin (Jamestown, RI/Kimball Union Academy), senior Rich Caraviello (Medford, MA/Malden Catholic), junior Justin Picone (Ellington, CT/Loomis Chaffee) and sophomore Chad Pessini (Mansfield, MA/St. Sebastian's).

Sophomore goalkeeper Ian Kell (St. Paul, MN/St. Paul's Academy) has been a work-horse this winter. He is 10-7-1 with a 3.56 goals against average and .876 save percentage overall. In 12 league games, he posted 8-3-1, 2.66 and .899 numbers. Kell has two shutouts this season, a 6-0 win over Curry and a 3-0 win over Framingham State.

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