The women's hockey team (2-3-1, 1-2-1 ECAC) extended its unbeaten home streak this season to three games, after a 1-1 draw against Union (1-10-1, 0-5-1) and a hard-earned 1-0 win against a strong Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (4-7-2, 3-3-0) team. Both games were low-scoring and fiercely contested, but the Brown players held their nerve to register their first points on the ECAC table this season.
Brown 1, Union 1
With a goal scored by both sides within the first 25 minutes of the Union game, fans may have expected a high-scoring game, but 1-1 remained the final score even after the overtime period.
The Dutchwomen came out hard despite coming into the game on a seven-game losing streak. Forward Stefanie Thomson scored the first goal on a power play less than five minutes into the game.
Bruno replied early in the second period with a fine effort by forward Kelly Griffin '13.5, with assists from forward Katelyn Landry '12 and defenseman Paige Pyett '12. Neither team was able to convert any further opportunities into goals, as both team exhibited strong defensive play.
Goaltender Aubree Moore '14, recorded 32 saves against a threatening Union offense, which held a definitive edge in shots on goal, 33 to 17, and dominated possession through most of the game.
Brown 1, RPI 0
The game against RPI was an altogether more difficult affair, with Brown tenaciously holding off a lightning-fast Engineers' offense. Through much of the game, the Engineers outshot, outmaneuvered and outpassed Brown, only to be repeatedly thwarted by goaltender Katie Jamieson '13.
Jamieson had an exceptional game, recording 37 saves to shut out a rampant RPI offense.
"Katie was absolutely unbelievable," said co-captain Erica Kromm '11.
Brown's offense struggled to find space to maneuver in the Engineers' zone, and most scoring opportunities came by way of long-range slap shots. RPI dominated possession, playing several minutes entirely in their offensive zone and keeping the pressure on the Brown defense.
But despite the relentless pressure, Jamieson turned in a near-flawless performance, defending against scorching slap shots, late deflections, breakaways and point-blank shots with equal aplomb.
The game remained scoreless until Jessica Hoyle '14 intercepted a pass with three minutes left in the game to find herself one-on-one against RPI goaltender Sonja van der Bliek. A series of clever dekes gave Hoyle the opportunity to calmly tap the puck past van der Bliek's desperate lunge to give Brown the lead. RPI pulled their goalie in a desperate attempt for an equalizing goal, but Brown's defense held their ground to pull out a hard-fought victory.
"This is a huge boost to our confidence," Kromm said. "We haven't beaten RPI in a long, long time. We were definitely hoping for a win against Union, but this kinda makes up for it."
Kromm admitted that despite a strong performance this weekend, there were areas the team wants to improve before the tough games ahead.
"We are working on starting hard," she said. "We really need to be generating more offensive opportunities … in the first period. At the moment, we are only really picking it up in the third period, which is really late."
Brown's defensive tenacity will encourage them as they look forward to a tough encounter against Clarkson University on Friday, in the fourth game of a six-game homestand. With confidence surging after a fine performance this week, they will seek to further extend their unbeaten home run.
