The men’s ice hockey team had mixed results this weekend, losing against Cornell Friday before defeating Colgate Saturday, each by tallies of 4-2.
Friday saw the Bears (1-5-0, 1-3-0 ECAC) score their first goals of the season on home ice following a shutout loss to the Providence Friars two weeks ago. Trey Dodd ’20 gave Bruno an early lead over the Big Red (2-2-1, 2-1-1) at 5:33 in the first period, spinning around in the crease to net a shot that missed the goal. Forward Max Willman ’18 also added to the Bears’ tally, scoring a power-play goal in the third.
Despite Bruno’s early edge, Cornell’s offense dominated the second period, scoring three goals to pull the total up to 4-1 going into the third.
“I thought we had some pretty good moments,” said Head Coach Brendan Whittet ’94. “It was nice to get a lead. But as soon as we took the lead we seemed to put ourselves in penalty trouble, and it’s very hard to win hockey games when you’re short as much as we have been.”
“It definitely didn’t get off to the start we wanted,” Willman said. “We were lucky to get that first goal, but then we kind of got off a little too high emotionally and needed to settle in and get back to our game.”
Goaltender Gavin Nieto ’20 made 19 saves in the first two periods against the Big Red Friday before giving the net to Tim Ernst ’17 for the third.
The next day’s contest marked Bruno’s first victory of the season. After a scoreless first period, Conner Wynne ’19, Charlie Corcoran ’18, Tyler Bird ’18 and Willman each notched a goal for the Bears, besting the Raiders’ (2-5-4, 1-2-1) stubborn defense. Bruno outshot the Raiders by a total of 27 to 24.
“It was a great win for the team,” said defenseman Max Gottlieb ’19, who recorded two assists in the contest. “I thought everyone put together a 60-minute effort and came out on the right side, which is good to see.”
Whittet echoed Gottlieb’s sentiments. “I think if you do a lot of the things we did tonight, good things will happen, and those good things are goals and wins,” he said.
Netminder Ernst also put up a strong performance against the Raiders Saturday, stopping 22 shots in the matchup.
Whittet emphasized that Saturday’s decision to start Ernst in the crease — instead of the usual setup with Nieto — hinged on the team’s dynamic. “I thought that was a good thing — just bringing in a little different energy into the lineup,” he said. “I just thought we needed to mix it up and get somebody new in there and give him a chance.”
With two away matchups taking place next weekend against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, Whittet emphasized the importance of effort for the team. “The north country’s a hard trip. It’s a long trip (against) two very good teams, and we’re going to have to have a great week of practice and preparation for them,” he said.
Looking forward to next week, Gottlieb is remaining optimistic. “If we take what we can, the positives from the win tonight (and) fix a few little things up, we should be good to go for the next game and hopefully the rest of the season,” he said.
The Bears return Friday with a visit to Clarkson. Face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Correction: A previous version of the headline and summary deck of this article stated that the men's ice hockey team scored its first goal of the season this weekend. In fact, the team's first goal of the season was prior to this weekend. The Herald regrets the error.
