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Teams: Ice Hockey: Team
Overview
 As members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC),
the Tufts University Hockey team plays in the nation's most
competitive small college conference academically and athletically.
Entering their seventh season in the league, Coach Brian Murphy's
Jumbos look to challenge for a home-ice playoff berth with a veteran
line-up in 2007-08.
Last year, Tufts posted a 7-5 victory over NESCAC regular-season
champion Bowdoin College. The Jumbos also defeated historically
successful programs from Hamilton and Salem State. In addition to
NESCAC games against teams such as eight-time national champion
Middlebury College, this year's schedule includes contests against
strong ECAC programs Norwich University, Babson College and the
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Tufts will also travel to two
tournaments, including the Cardinal Classic in Plattsburgh, New
York, and take a mid-season European tour to France and Switzerland.
Murphy has built up the Tufts program with recruiting classes that
span nationwide, but focus on local players from Greater Boston.
Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded
collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque
small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with an
unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff,
and bright and talented students, according to President Lawrence
S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28
sports that is among the most competitive in the NCAA's Division
III. Tufts finished sixth in the 2006 U.S. Sports Academy Directors'
Cup, the award presented annually to the best overall collegiate
athletics programs in the country. The University's proximity to a
world-class city renowned for its academic institutions is also a
major draw.
Matt McCarthy from Medfield, Mass., graduated in 2006 as the most
honored Tufts player of the NESCAC era. He was named to the All-NESCAC
team and was also selected to the prestigious New England Hockey
Writers' Team after finishing fifth in the conference scoring race
with 18 goals and 17 assists for 35 points in 22 games. He continued
his hockey career in Germany as the first Jumbo to play overseas,
and is playing in Amsterdam this season.
Murphy is entering his 10th season coaching the team. An all-star
defenseman for the Jumbos in 1995, and an assistant coach on the
team for three seasons, Murphy has deep roots with the program. He
was captain of the 1994-95 team that won 11 straight games and was
one of the best in Tufts history. Murphy is now the program's
all-time leader in coaching victories with 91. In addition to
McCarthy, he has recruited 100-point scorers Drew Carleton, Natan
Obed, Mike Carceo and Jason Boudrow to Tufts. Dan Mahoney, one of
the best defensemen in Tufts history, is also a Murphy recruit.
The 2007-08 Jumbos have plenty of talent and experience returning to
the line-up. Seniors Greg O'Connell (23-55-78 in 66 career games),
Ross Gimbel (team high 25 points on 12 goals and 13 assists last
year) and Kurt Hertzog (6-12-18), along with juniors Greg McCarthy
(9-14-23) and Joe Milo (10-10-20), provide a strong offensive
nucleus. The Jumbos have the veteran duo of James Kalec and Issa
Azat returning in goal. Sophomore Doug Wilson was one of the
NESCAC's top freshman blue-liners last season, and senior Joe
Cappellano is a solid veteran defenseman.
Norwich graduate John Burgess, previously an assistant at Curry
College, is in his second season as Murphy's top assistant and
recruiting coordinator. A goalie at Norwich, he has coached at the
high school, junior and college levels for the last 15 years.
Trainer Nick Mitropoulos, who was Head Coach of the Jumbos from
1991-93, will also serve in a coaching capacity along with his
sports medicine duties.
The Tufts program is equally committed to the success of its
student-athletes academically and to their involvement in the
community. The NESCAC is a group of highly selective liberal arts
colleges and universities that share an academics-first philosophy
for intercollegiate athletics. In addition to the on-ice honors that
Jumbo skaters have earned, many have been named to the NESCAC
All-Academic Team. Every Christmas, the team makes a generous
contribution to the Toys for Tots program on campus.
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