Following a pair of confidence-building wins over Sacred Heart, the women’s hockey team headed into its weekend double-header against No. 10 Princeton Friday and No. 5 Quinnipiac Saturday hoping to carry that momentum forward. But the Bears (2-2, 0-2 ECAC) struggled against their top-10 foes, falling 4-0 to the Tigers (3-0, 1-0) and suffering an 8-0 blowout at the hands of the Bobcats (7-2-1, 2-0).
The pair of difficult losses came as a sharp reversal for Bruno. Just the game before, the Bears had executed a seemingly flawless performance with a dominating 7-0 victory over Sacred Heart (0-2).
“Sacred Heart was a fun weekend for the team,” said veteran forward and team captain Maddie Woo ’17.
“There was good energy on the bench, and we were working hard,” she added. “It paid off.”
In the contest, veteran forward Sam Donovan ’18 netted the second hat-trick of her career with goals in each period. Both of Bruno’s goaltenders — experienced starter Julianne Landry ’18 and rookie Calla Isaac ’20 — saw ice time, and neither allowed a goal. On the stat sheet, the Bears clearly outplayed the Big Red by taking 50 shots to Sacred Heart’s 17 and dominating their opponents in faceoff wins, 35 to 22.
“It was a good start to our season,” Woo said. The team definitely hopes to “carry out that level of play moving forward in the season,” she added.
But the Bears struggled against the Tigers. At 4:04 in the first period, the team found itself down 1-0 after Claire Thompson netted a rebound during a Princeton power play. On the offensive end later that period, Brown could not capitalize on any of its three man-up situations. The first period ended with both teams having taken seven shots but with the Tigers up 1-0.
Princeton’s offense only continued to surge over the next two periods. After the Bears’ second penalty at 13:44, the Tigers made use of their power play once again, with Karlie Lund firing a shot that beat Brown’s goalie Monica Elvin ’17 and added a cushion to the Tigers’ lead. The onslaught continued, as Princeton scored again at 15:47 in the second and finally at 11:15 in the third. When the game clock hit zero and the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard read 4-0, Princeton.
“We saw what we can do when we skate hard, play disciplined and get shots on net,” Woo said. “Now we just need to work on our consistency throughout the whole game.”
With fewer than 24 hours to recuperate after the difficult loss, the Bears faced Quinnipiac Saturday.
At first, the game seemed to be in Brown’s favor. The Bears secured two power plays in the first quarter, giving Bruno an early opportunity to take command of the game. But again, the Bears struggled offensively and allowed the Bobcats to escape these man-down situations unscathed. From there, Quinnipiac poured it on, scoring three goals in the first period, four more in the second and one in the third.
The Bears will continue their 2016 campaign this weekend with another ECAC double-header, hosing Union Friday and Rensselaer Saturday. The team hopes to rebound after the pair of losses, and Woo noted that the Bears will definitely “rely on the younger players to step up.” Potential contributors moving forward include rookie forwards Alley Rempe ’20 and Sena Hanson ’20, who have already become strong offensive presences for the team during games so far on and off the puck.
“The main goal is to make it to the playoffs,” Woo said. “But more importantly, we’re just focusing on taking it one game at a time, building on our successes and fixing any problems, to play our best every weekend. The rest will fall into place.”
