FITCHBURG, Mass. — The men’s hockey team, which had not won a playoff game since the 1988-89 season, had its attempt at two straight wins and a berth in the finals thwarted last night on the road by the ECAC Northeast defending champion Fitchburg State Falcons.

On the strength of two third period goals, the Jumbos fought back from a 3-1 deficit to force an extra session, which ended on Falcon senior defenseman Rob Hunt’s rebound shot at the 13:16 mark of overtime.

“I was being covered by a defenseman so I just took a shot,” said a jubilant Hunt after the game. “It was lucky, the rebound came right on my stick and I put it in.”

The devastating goal put an abrupt end to a productive season for the Jumbos. Tufts had finished third in the ECAC Northeast Division with a 12-9-1 record, and was only one game away from the championship round.

“We had a great season,” junior assistant captain Dan Mahoney said afterwards. “You can’t judge it on this one game.”

Fitchburg, on the other hand, will attempt to win its second consecutive ECAC title and seventh in 11 years on Saturday night at top-ranked Wentworth.

The Jumbos came out strong in the first five minutes, but their momentum didn’t last, as they played the middle ten minutes of the first period on their heels and conceded two goals.

“We were a little tight in the first period,” coach Brian Murphy said.

Those nerves would cost Tufts, as Fitchburg State’s sophomore forward Jeff Brodeur kicked off the scoring with a goal from Jeff DuRoss and John Whittemore at 5:56 in the first period. Whittemore wouldn’t be soon forgotten, as he netted the final goal of the opening period at 11:48 on assists from DuRoss and Brian Baldassare. Whittemore finished the game with two goals and an assist, while DuRoss had three assists of his own.

The Jumbos were badly outshot in the first stanza, 22-7, but fought their way back in the second period. With just under 11 minutes left, senior assistant captain Scott Sullivan scored a power play goal from senior captain Drew Carleton and junior Natan Obed.

Sullivan and Carleton, Tufts’ two leading scorers, are two of six departing seniors whose impacts on the Tufts hockey program were deeply felt.

“All of our seniors contributed,” Murphy said. “All of these guys played significant amounts in their careers.”

Carleton’s departure could be the hardest to cope with, as the senior was one of the most prolific scorers in Tufts history. He proved his worth in the third period, slipping one past Fitchburg’s Nick Gangemi at 6:53. The goal, which came on sophomore Jordan Karp’s second assist in as many playoff games, answered Fitchburg’s third goal in the game, Whittemore’s second tally at 5:46 of the second.

More than that, though, the goal started the third period comeback, which was capped by freshman Mike Carceo’s goal, a top shelf shot from between the circles at 11:12 of the third from sophomore Chad Pessini.

“We didn’t want to leave anything on the ice,” Carleton said after the game. “We showed our ability to fight back and never say die.”

In overtime, as in the rest of the game, the play was marked by up-and-down action, big hits, and even bigger saves. Both teams had opportunities to score the sudden death goal, but were repeatedly denied by Tufts sophomore netminder Ian Kell and Gangemi.

Gangemi had 32 saves on the night, while Kell responded with 42 of his own.

Short of the game-winner, the highlight of the extra session came at the 7:42 mark, in a play that appeared innocent but quickly turned dangerous. Senior forward Tom Feeley went to the boards to fight for the puck, and ended up crumpled on the ice after a blatantly vicious blind side hit from Fitchburg sophomore defenseman Chris Sawyer. Feeley spent a few minutes on the ice being attended to by the trainers, while Sawyer was escorted off the ice after receiving a five-minute major for fighting and a game misconduct.

Surprisingly, Feeley was also given a five-minute major and game misconduct, canceling out any power play the Jumbos would have received.

“Tom should have gotten two minutes, not five, but that’s not why we lost,” coach Murphy said.

The Jumbos seemed shocked by the call, and Hunt found the net soon after.

The game was rough the whole way, as the Falcons racked up 17 minutes of penalties compared to Tufts’ 11. The Jumbos went 1-4 on the power play, while Fitchburg State couldn’t take advantage of their lone man advantage.

The loss was a tough one for the Jumbos, as it marks the second straight season Tufts has lost a playoff game in overtime. All was not lost, however, as the Jumbos proved that they could play with the defending champions.

“They’re the defending champs, it was at their rink, so a lot of people would have thought they would have won going away,” Murphy said. “Our guys don’t think that way, though. If we could have played the whole overtime period, we probably would have gotten another goal.”