In a weekend of tough matchups, the women’s ice hockey team was not able to overcome either of its nationally ranked opponents, suffering back-to-back losses away from home. No. 9 St. Lawrence (16-8-3, 10-3-2 ECAC) and No. 8 Clarkson (16-8-3, 10-3-2) — two of the conference’s most prolific offenses — torched Brown (5-18-0, 2-14-0) for an aggregate score of 10-0. This extended Bruno’s winless streak on the road to 11 games.
No. 9 St. Lawrence 4, Brown 0
In the team’s first matchup in Meehan Auditorium earlier in the season, the Bears mauled St. Lawrence in the third period, during which they scored five goals to cap a 7-4 victory. Unfortunately for the Bears, the sequel did not go nearly as well. The nationally ranked Saints — who are also ranked fourth in the ECAC and on a seven-game winning streak — slid three past Julianne Landry ’18 in a seven-minute span in the first period before Monica Elvin ’17 came on soon after. Elvin stopped an impressive 42 shots and allowed only one goal in her more than 40 minutes of ice time.
Before leaving in the first, Landry made 16 stops while St. Lawrence peppered the goalies with 23 shots. The Bears’ net was under siege by an unrelenting Saints offense that totaled 62 shots by the game’s conclusion. This dwarfed Bruno’s 14 shots on goal, a total that was less than SLU had in any one period. This forced Elvin into making 17 saves in the second and 21 more in the third to prevent any additional damage.
The Bears’ defense did its best to stymie the explosive St. Lawrence offense, which is ranked third in the ECAC with a gaudy average of 3.20 goals per game. By game’s end, the players had racked up 21 blocked shots. They also suffocated the Saints on the power play, killing five of their six opportunities. Meanwhile, on offense, the team could not find twine as Sarah Robson ’15 and Samantha Swanstrom ’18 each hit the post.
No. 8 Clarkson 6, Brown 0
A change of scenery did not help the Bears score, as they were shut out for the second game in a row. The Golden Knights boast both a highly ranked offense and defense, so this matchup was set to be quite the battle for Brown. The team’s goalie, Shea Tiley, ranks second in the conference with a .932 save percentage and 1.50 goals against average.
Once again, the disparity in shots on goal spelled doom for Bruno. While the Bears managed to apply pressure on Clarkson in the second with 10 shots, they could only come up with five in the other two periods combined. On the other hand, the Golden Knights ended with 48 shots overall. Additionally, Brown could not quite replicate its success on the penalty kill, as Clarkson went 2-of-4.
The team hopes to snap its current skid away from Meehan next weekend in two more tough matchups at Dartmouth (10-10-2, 6-8-2) and Harvard (15-4-2, 12-3-1).
