If the challenge of one of its longest road trips of the season wasn't daunting enough, the men's ice hockey team also had to face a pair of the best teams in the nation on its trip to upstate New York this weekend. The trip turned out to be a disappointing one as the Bears lost to No. 10 Clarkson University, 5-3, on Friday, and to No. 16 St. Lawrence University, 2-1, in overtime on Saturday. The losses dropped Brown back to the cellar of the ECACHL standings with a record of 5-10-3 (9-11-5 overall).
"If there was a theme this weekend, it was that we just couldn't finish," said forward Chris Poli '08. "We had these little let-downs that added up and hurt us. This late in the year, teams are just too good to be doing that and expect to win."
On Friday night, Brown received a gift just a minute into the game when the Golden Knights took two penalties eight seconds apart. Brown capitalized on the Golden Knights' generosity with a power-play goal at 1:13. Forward Jeff Prough '08 passed the puck to defenseman David Robertson '08 at the left point, and Robertson sent it to fellow defenseman Sean Hurley '08 at the opposite point. Hurley scored with a shot from the top of the right face-off circle.
Clarkson fought back to tie the game at 1-1 four minutes later with a power-play goal of its own. At 10:17, the Golden Knights jumped out to a 2-1 lead, but 27 seconds later, Prough buried a shot from the top of the right circle to even the score again. Forward Sean McMonagle '10 and forward Brian McNary '08 earned assists on the goal.
During the second period, however, the Golden Knights exploded, notching three goals while the Bears struggled to kill five penalties. Brown spent almost half the period in the box, and Clarkson remained penalty-free.
The first Clarkson goal of the second period beat goaltender Dan Rosen '10 at 13:03 on a power play. Then, 1:42 later, the Golden Knights dumped the puck into the Brown zone, and the puck struck along the boards and ricocheted into the net for what proved to be the game-winner.
Down two, Brown kept fighting to climb back into the game. Forward Eric Slais '09 scored with just 1:52 remaining in the game to narrow the gap to 5-3, but that was as close as Brown would get.
The following night, against St. Lawrence, Brown held a 1-0 advantage after the first period but it would be the last tally it managed on the night.
Almost 10 minutes into the period, McNary cut off a St. Lawrence pass in the Bears' defensive zone creating a two-on-one with McMonagle. McNary threaded a pass to McMonagle, who converted the feed. The goal was the first of McMonagle's career.
With time winding down, it looked like Brown might escape New York with a split. But with only 2:42 left, the Saints managed to slam a shot past Rosen. Up to that point, Rosen had made 40 consecutive saves in the contest.
"He's just so consistent," Prough said of the goalie. "With Dan, you know what you are going to get and you never have to worry about him. Almost always, if we play to our ability, we'll win with him back there. He gives the team confidence ... and we can just play and let him take care of the rest."
A late rush by Prough and McNary almost restored the Bears' lead with just seconds left, but regulation expired just as Prough and the Bears were bearing down on the goal, sending Brown into its ninth overtime period of the season.
"We just couldn't finish," Poli said. "We had them where we wanted them and were playing well, but instead of going after the win, we stepped back and let up. At the end especially, we kind of hung Rosen out to dry, so they scored and we just couldn't get it back in time."
McMonagle nearly tallied his second goal of the game with 3:11 remaining in overtime, but his shot clinked off the post. It was picked up by a Saints' player and carried down the ice for a St. Lawrence goal, just nine seconds after McMonagle's initial shot at the opposite end.
Rosen finished the game with 46 saves.
"The game was kind of a heartbreaker for us," Prough said. "We were up the whole time. I think we just kind of sat back on our heels and tried too hard to protect the lead instead of playing our game like we did at the start. So they just took it to us."
"Sean Hurley has been playing some great hockey lately," said Head Coach Roger Grillo. "Prough and McNary are always assets to have, and Devin Timberlake ('10) too. There were about six or seven guys who really work hard and help us out every shift. Everybody else needs to follow."
With the regular season drawing to a close, the Bears return home this weekend to face Dartmouth on Friday and Harvard on Saturday. Grillo hopes his team will rebound after a disappointing weekend.
"We didn't play ... like we need to at this point in the season," he said. "We've got to step up, be a little better, a little sharper."
