The women’s ice hockey seniors laced up for the final time in Brown uniforms this weekend, skating to two losses against Ivy rivals Dartmouth and Harvard in its final showdowns of the season.
Brown (4-20-5, 3-16-3 ECAC) was blanked by Dartmouth 3-0 Friday and fell to Harvard 3-1 Saturday. While the weekend resulted in two disappointing losses and ended the season with a four-game losing streak, the close-knit squad still celebrated at the end.
For the seniors, it was bittersweet.
“You work 18 years to get to the place we are now, and you go through so much,” said Samantha Woodward ’14. “The season is so long, you get to know everybody in the locker room so well and then you blink and it’s done.”
The weekend difficulties epitomized the Bears’ season, with the squad battling close for some periods and faltering in others. Entering the weekend knowing that playoff hopes were impossible, Bruno skated with nothing to lose. While the Bears have struggled to capitalize on chances and win close games, they have been able to skate with tough teams, dropping a majority of their games by small margins and even tying No. 1 Clarkson University, among other hard-fought battles.
“This season was frustrating statistically because we didn’t do as well as we wanted to,” said Jennifer Nedow ’14. “But in terms of how we played qualitatively it was great.”
Friday: Dartmouth 3, Brown 0
Dartmouth (9-18-1, 8-13-1) came to Providence hungry for a win, looking to snap a five-game losing streak. The team struck early against the Bears, scoring less than a minute into play. Bruno’s defense kept the Big Green out of the net for much of the rest of the period, deflecting seven shots, but Dartmouth’s Devon Moir added a second goal late in the first on one of a series of quick shots on Brown’s net.
Looking to shrink a two-goal deficit, the Bears responded with a drive led by Woodward, Jessica Hoyle ’14 and Janice Yang ’15.5, but they narrowly failed to capitalize. Woodward closed out the period with a pipe shot that threatened the Dartmouth net but ultimately missed.
Brown struggled to get any traction against the conference foe. Aubree Moore ’14 later called the team “unsettled” during play. While Bruno practically matched Dartmouth in shots taken during the game, none of its scoring chances materialized.
The Big Green knocked in its third and final tally with less than two minutes to play in the second period. It came in an aggressive period featuring five penalties. Dartmouth utilized a power play — initiated by a tripping penalty on Sarah Robson ’15 — to score its last goal.
A scoreless third period rounded out play and secured the shutout win for Dartmouth. Neither team budged, though Brittany Moorehead ’15 took some good looks at the Big Green net and Moore made 11 saves for the Bears during the frame. It was Bruno’s third consecutive game without scoring.
Saturday: Harvard 3, Brown 1
Bruno faced a tough fight against Harvard (21-4-4, 16-3-3), the second-place team in the ECAC. In similar fashion to Dartmouth, the Crimson struck quickly to gain a lead less than two minutes into the game. As the first period continued, Harvard successfully killed off four Brown power plays on five different penalties. The Bears out-shot Harvard by four, but the Crimson’s strong defensive effort prevented any damage.
Woodward started the second period for the Bears, firing a slap shot that landed in the glove of Harvard goalie Brianna Laing. Midway through the period, the Crimson widened its lead to 2-0 and then, moments later, to 3-0 as Elizabeth Parker notched two tallies within 20 seconds.
A comeback seemed to be brewing for the Bears when Hoyle poked the puck onto Harvard’s goal line. Though the light flashed, signaling that the Bears had scored, the officials disallowed the goal after video review showed the puck had not crossed the line.
The third period packed more fire for Bruno. Monica Masucci ’16 got Brown on the board halfway through the period, utilizing assists from Moorehead and Kelly Kittredge ’14 to score Brown’s first goal in 220 minutes of play.
“In the third period we really picked it up. We said, ‘We have 20 minutes left, this is all we’ve got, so let’s just give it everything,’” Moore said.
With the score at 3-1, the Bears applied offensive pressure, outshooting the Crimson during the final stanza, but could not score again. They survived two Harvard power plays and created a number of scoring opportunities. Masucci got two more good looks at the goal, and Hoyle fired a shot off the pipe. In a last-ditch effort, the Bears pulled Moore with three minutes left, but to no avail.
“Harvard’s a really good team and I felt that, especially in the third period, we played really, really well,” Nedow said. “That was a great way to end it.”
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