The men’s hockey team continued its season on the road this weekend, drawing even with Colgate University 2-2 in overtime Friday and falling to No. 18 Cornell 3-2 Saturday.
Jake Harris ’22 and Tristan Crozier ’22 paced the Bears’ offense, posting a goal and an assist each over the weekend. Goaltender Gavin Nieto ’20 recorded a season-high 33 saves against the Raiders Friday night, before stopping 31 shots against the Big Red Saturday.
Brown 2, Colgate 2 (OT)
Friday night, Crozier and Justin Jallen ’22 scored in the second period to give the Bears (0-3-1, 0-2-1 ECAC) a lead, but a Colgate goal early in the third stanza sent the teams into overtime.
The Raiders (2-4-1, 0-1-1) opened scoring five minutes into the second period when Bobby McMann sent a shot past Nieto from in front of the blue line. But Bruno answered eight minutes later as Crozier redirected a shot from Zach Giuttari ’20 into the net. Giuttari launched the puck from the point toward the Colgate goal, where Crozier tapped it past Raiders netminder Mitch Benson.
The Bears continued to pressure the Raiders’ net throughout the second period, outshooting Colgate 16-13 in the frame. As the period neared its close, Jallen notched a short-handed goal to give Brown a lead with 5.6 seconds remaining. Jallen maneuvered around a Colgate defenseman in front of the net and sent a backhanded shot past a sliding Benson for the unassisted tally.
McMann recorded his second goal of the night on a power play early in the third period to equalize the game and send Brown into its first overtime contest of the season.
The teams exchanged blows in overtime, as Nieto made three key saves and Brown notched a pair of shots on target.
“Our defensive core has done a great job,” Nieto said. “We have an older, experienced defensive core, so they kind of know the ropes and they’ve done a really good job of keeping the middle of the ice clear for myself and for Luke (Kania ’21) to easily see pucks.”
Brown 2, Cornell 3
The following day, Harris and Brent Beaudoin ’20 each scored to bring Bruno within one goal of the Big Red (2-2, 2-0), but the Bears were edged in a contest that came down to the final seconds at Lynah Rink.
Following a scoreless first period, Cornell took the lead one minute into the second stanza when Matt Nuttle sent a shot from the slot past Nieto. Brown responded swiftly, converting on the power play two minutes later to tie the game. Harris tapped in a shot that a Cornell defenseman batted away with his stick in midair, but the puck was ruled to be over the goal line after video review. Crozier and Tony Stillwell ’21 earned assists on the play.
“We have a good feel for the power play with both units — we have different looks on each one which help us break down the other team’s penalty kill,” Harris said. “It’s really been clicking the last couple of games. … It was nice to finally get one at Cornell.”
Cornell added a pair of goals before the period was over to reclaim the lead. But Beaudoin trimmed the deficit for the Bears three minutes into the final stanza, sending a one-timer past Big Red netminder Matthew Galajda off a centering pass from Jallen.
With just over a minute remaining, the Bears pulled Nieto for an extra skater. Bruno pressured the Big Red’s defense and pushed deep into the offensive zone in the waning seconds of the game, but Galajda held off the attack to secure the victory for Cornell.
The Bears killed off all four of their penalties in the contest. The team has demonstrated a strong command of its penalty kill this season, conceding only one power play goal in four games.
“When you’re down a man, there’s kind of that extra urgency to make plays, and I think right now we’re doing a good job of protecting the house, the front of the net and really not giving the opponent’s power play much to shoot at,” Nieto said. “Cornell’s got one of the best power plays in the country — we really didn’t give them too much offensively when they were a man up, so I think we’re doing a really good job of limiting the other team’s opportunities.”
“The penalty kill has been great,” Harris added. “It really shut down the momentum when the other team gets power plays and (has) allowed us to stay in games when we’ve taken too many calls sometimes.”
As the Bears continue their season against Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend, they seek to increase offensive production and maximize scoring opportunities at the net.
“When you get shot totals up, it definitely increases your confidence and makes life hectic for the goalie, which is what we want to do,” Harris said. “Just continuing to play our game and continuing to play in straight lines will help us get that total up.”
“For the most part, we do take shots, it’s just … (that) we have to get better at getting them through because a lot of teams are very good at just blocking pucks,” Beaudoin said. “In terms of just getting pucks through to the net — that’s a big push we’ve got to make, and then on our part, we also have to block more pucks.”
Bruno has also benefited from the addition of its freshman class of six, which has added depth to the roster and accounted for five of the team’s goals so far.
“It’s very nice to be able to see guys come in and make an impact right away,” Beaudoin said. “I think our first three points at least were from freshmen, … so (it’s) very good they can produce.”
As the Bears proceed further into their season, they maintain a positive and industrious approach that emphasizes everyday processes of improvement.
“The mindset’s very positive, we believe in each other a lot,” Harris said. “What’s done is done, and we know that. We just want to build on that each day in every practice, and we’re very excited for the upcoming weekend.”
The Bears return home to host Dartmouth Friday and Harvard Saturday at Meehan Auditorium.
