Last year the men's hockey team won only five games all season. This year's team reached that mark with four months to go with Friday night's defeat of St. Lawrence University.
The Bears lost to Clarkson University 2-1 at Meehan Auditorium Saturday night, but the win over St. Lawrence, the team that bounced Brown from last year's postseason, was the highlight of the weekend. The 1-1 split moved the Bears' conference record to 2-3-1 (5-4-2 overall).
The Bears came out flying Friday, playing three excellent periods of hockey in defeating the Saints 4-1 and dealing them their first ECAC loss of the season. The win was Brown's third consecutive victory and its fifth win in the past six games.
"We came to play and worked hard for 60 minutes," said Head Coach Roger Grillo. "We skated hard, battled for the puck, really competed and our special teams were on point, too. Plus, Danny (Rosen '10) played well in net, so that gave us an extra boost."
The Bears dominated the first period, out-shooting the Saints 13-6 and heading into the locker room after 20 minutes of play with a 1-0 lead, following a power-play goal by Jeremy Russell '10. Brian Ihnacak '07 passed the puck to captain Sean Dersch '07, who then slipped it back to Russell at the left point. Russell fired a crisp, low shot that beat the St. Lawrence goaltender between his legs. The goal was the first of Russell's collegiate career.
There were a number of Brown scoring opportunities throughout the rest of the first period, but the Bears were unable to net any more pucks until the second period. Just 61 seconds in, assistant captain Antonin Roux '07 battled hard for the puck in the offensive zone at the right face-off circle, causing it to shoot out to Jeff Prough '08. He backhanded it towards the net, and Matt Vokes '09 tipped the puck over the goalie's stick and into the back of the net, increasing the Brown lead to 2-0.
Ihnacak and Dersch both earned their second points of the game when Ihnacak scored on a power play with just 1:10 remaining in the second period, widening the Brown lead to 3-0. Chris Poli '08 fed Dersch standing to the left side of the net. Dersch then slipped the puck to the center slot, where Ihnacak one-timed the puck past the Saints' goalie for his second goal in as many games.
The third period opened up with a St. Lawrence goal at 6:35 when the Saints managed to slip a puck past Rosen on a power play of their own. The rest of the period went scoreless until the Saints pulled their goalie for the extra attacker with 3:15 remaining in the game. The attempt to even the score was unsuccessful, however, as Brown's defense and Rosen held off the Saints. Sean Muncy '09 added an empty-net goal with 1:02 remaining, and the Bears walked away from Meehan with a 4-1 win.
Rosen stopped 24 shots in the contest in earning his fourth win of the season.
"(Rosen) is a huge help back there," Roux said. "He's just got a great attitude and is always in the right place. Even when you think you've got him beat, he'll pull a pad or something and make the stop."
The Bears came out a bit more slowly against Clarkson on Saturday night. They were out-shot 18-7 in the first period by the Golden Knights, who controlled the puck throughout most of the period. With 2:41 remaining, Clarkson slipped a puck past Rosen on a power play, and the Bears trailed 1-0 at the end of the first.
Brown came out with more intensity in the second period and out-shot the Golden Knights 18-6. Just 24 seconds into the period, Muncy flew behind the net to intercept a pass from a Clarkson defenseman. Muncy immediately passed the puck to Roux in front of the net, and he managed to get a stick on the puck, forcing the Clarkson goalie to make the initial save. The puck bounced back to Roux, though, and he backhanded his own rebound over the goalie's shoulder and into the top of the net, evening the score at 1-1.
The third period saw yet another change in momentum, and this time it was Clarkson who benefited. The Golden Knights out-shot the Bears 11-4 and netted the game-winner three minutes into the period. The loss ended the Bears' three-game winning streak.
Rosen recorded 33 saves in Saturday's game, with 17 coming in the first period alone.
"Saturday we weren't sharp," Grillo said. "Danny played very well again and definitely gave us an opportunity to win, but we couldn't pull it off. We need to be more consistent."
Despite the loss, Rosen's play continues to impress. The first-year currently leads the nation with a 1.37 goals against average and a .958 save percentage.
"The team makes it really easy to look good back there," Rosen said. "The defense keeps shots to the outside and I've gotten some lucky bounces with the pucks."
The team next returns to the ice this Saturday at home against Yale.
"We are playing pretty good hockey," Grillo said. "(We) need to find that even keel and stick with it as opposed to getting maybe a bit too high and a little too low. Once we find that balance, we'll be all set."
