Jesse Fratkin '11 spent much of last season dressed in a suit, not a uniform.
Most nights, he didn't know if coach Roger Grillo and his staff would put him on the fourth line or in the bleachers. But before this season started, newly hired Head Coach Brendan Whittet '94 said Fratkin would see more ice time.
Last week, Fratkin showed why.
In Brown's first win of the season, an 8-1 stomping of Connecticut at home, the forward scored three goals and added an assist. Last year, Fratkin sat in the stands and watched his team play UConn.
"This was my first time playing against UConn, so it was a good one," Fratkin said. "I wish we could play them more often."
On Tuesday, the Bears lost at home, 3-2, to Bentley (5-6-3), but Fratkin scored one goal and assisted the other. On the week, he had six points in two games. Last season, he didn't score once.
"It was nice to get a clean slate," Fratkin said of the coaching change. "I've always worked hard on my game and I've always seen myself as a decent player, but it's nice to get a chance."
Bentley 3, Brown 2
For the sixth game in a row, Brown let in the game's first goal. Just 33 seconds after the puck dropped, Bentley's Dustin Cloutier scored on a one-timer from the bottom of the left faceoff circle to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead before they even had to change lines.
"We didn't start off well and that really hurt us the whole game," Fratkin said. "We definitely didn't play our best."
Four minutes and 12 seconds into the first period, Fratkin evened the score after tri-captain Aaron Volpatti '10 sent him a pass at center ice. Fratkin skated into the defensive zone and shot from the top of the right faceoff circle, beating Bentley goalie Kyle Rank five-hole.
The Bears took a 2-1 lead when Jack Maclellan '12 scored his first goal of the season 11:41 into the second period.
Brown held on to the advantage until 4:36 into the third period, when Cloutier scored his second goal of the game to begin the Falcons' comeback.
Less than four minutes later, Jamie Nudy gave Bentley its first lead of the game, 3-2.
The Bears were still one shot behind when a Bentley penalty gave them a two-minute power play with just 2:12 left. With 1:25 remaining, Whittet pulled goalie Anthony Borelli '13 — who finished with 25 saves — in favor of the extra attacker. But despite the 1:13-long six-on-four advantage, the Bears couldn't find the back of the net, and they lost their sixth straight game.
Brown 8, UConn 1
Fratkin had three goals and five other players added one as the Bears steamrolled UConn (2-10-2) in their first win of the season.
"You hate to use the word ‘perfect storm,' but it kind of was," said UConn Head Coach Bruce Marshall.
Marshall said the combination of a Brown team hungry to get its first win and a UConn team that made some key turnovers caused an ugly outcome for the Huskies on Saturday night.
"They really came out with a lot of energy, a lot of passion," Marshall said.
It showed.
Fratkin netted Brown's first of five first-period goals.
"I noticed they looked tired — they were at the end of a long shift," Fratkin said. "I just kind of hung behind the play a bit, hoping that the puck would turn over."
Tri-captain Devin Timberlake '10 forced a turnover and passed across the ice to Fratkin, who one-timed the puck into the back of the net, giving Brown a 1-0 lead for the first time in seven games.
"It was (a) nice pass," Fratkin said. "He could have shot it, but the pass was the right play."
Brown blew open the scoring in the middle of the period when Fratkin got his second of the night and Francis Drolet '13, Marc Senecal '13 and Sean McMonagle '10 all netted their first goals of the season.
"It's always nice to have a lead, especially when you get a lead early," said goalie Mike Clemente '12. "It just kind of builds and the whole team was playing with a lot of confidence."
For the first time since the season opener at Princeton in October, the Bears' defense let in fewer than three goals. Brown was also four-of-four on the penalty kill.
UConn captain Mike Coppola scored the Huskies' lone goal with less than eight minutes left. But otherwise, Clemente was perfect in net with 24 saves.
In the game's final minutes, Fratkin said the coaches were trying to get him more ice time, hoping that he could get a hat trick. With just 17 ticks left in the game, he did just that.
"I have had a few hat tricks in my junior career. But I mean, hat tricks are hard to come by at any level," Fratkin said. "You can't even describe the feeling."
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