Of the seven games the men’s hockey team played over winter break, it won only two: a 7-5 barnburner over Colgate in the teams’ third matchup of the season and a historic win over a top-ranked Providence squad.
Tommy Marchin ’19 continued his torrid start to the season with the overtime winner against the Friars — one of four goals he scored over the break. The rookie is second on the team in points with 10 goals and 10 assists, trailing only Nick Lappin ’16. His 20 points lead all first-years in the ECAC, leaving him tied for 12th overall.
“Tommy’s a big, strong kid who has been really important to our success this year,” said captain Mark Naclerio ’16. “He’s a great goalscorer who is able to get pucks in front of the net and convert.”
But Marchin’s involvement in the game against Providence (16-4-4, 7-2-3 Hockey East) was hardly the biggest surprise of the day — that honor belonged to Andrew Doane ’17. The seldom-seen junior was inserted into the lineup for one of the first times all year and capitalized within three minutes.
“It was Doane’s first career goal, so everyone was really happy for him,” Naclerio said.
Brown (4-12-3, 2-9-2 ECAC) took a 1-0 lead courtesy of the junior — with his linemates getting the assists — but Providence came back to take a 2-1 lead before the period ended.
It was another first-time goalscorer that tied the game back up, as Josh McArdle ’18 benefited from traffic in front of the net. But the crosstown heavyweight struck back less than four minutes later to recapture the lead through Brian Pinho.
Brown looked to an unlikely scorer to tie the game once again. Charlie Corcoran ’18 scored his first goal of the season off a brilliant tip-in to tie the game at three. Tim Lappin ’18 got the puck to Tyler Wood ’17, who ripped a shot that Corcoran got a stick on, wrong-footing the Providence goaltender.
“That’s what helps teams win big games — guys stepping up who normally don’t,” Naclerio said.
After three goals in each of the first two periods, there was no scoring in the third, which guaranteed that the Mayor’s Cup would go to Providence. After beating the Bears 4-1 at Schneider Arena Dec. 10, all the Friars had to do was avoid a blowout to take the Mayor’s Cup back from Brown.
But for both teams, that meant little. When Marchin scored the game-winner exactly halfway through the overtime period, Meehan Auditorium erupted as the Bears met Marchin on the ice. Providence skated towards the middle of the ice to claim the Mayor’s Cup but was clearly disappointed with the result against its crosstown foe.
“It was a really great experience. It showed that we have a ton of potential,” Naclerio said. “It boosted our confidence, and we hope we can carry some momentum from that win.”
Despite the impressive win for the Bears, the winter break was hardly a successful one. Back-to-back one-goal losses to Yale, followed by a 6-2 drubbing at Saint Lawrence and a 5-0 blowout against Clarkson, left Bruno with zero conference points over its last six ECAC games.
“We just need to close out tight games,” Naclerio said. “If some pucks went our way, we’d have walked out of the Yale games with wins.”
One of the main problems for Brown has been at the goalie position: Tim Ernst ’17 and Tyler Steel ’17 had switched spots all season before both sat in favor of Connor Maher’s ’18 first career start against Clarkson.
The defensive rotation has been a revolving door all year due to injuries and some poor performances, but Dane Cooper’s ’18 return should help a team that’s still trying to fill the hole left by injuries to Ben Tegtmeyer ’18.
Marchin, Lappin and Naclerio have been impressive this season on the first line, accounting for 61 of the team’s 126 points. Defenseman Max Gottlieb ’19 has been a revelation, with 15 points on the season. But there’s a nine-point gap between Gottlieb and the next highest point-scorer, Zack Pryzbek ’17.
The Bears take on No. 16 RPI and Union this weekend.
