Returning home to the comfort of Stevenson-Pincince Field after losing to Columbia last week, the Bears faced the Princeton Tigers in their first home conference game of the season. Both teams came into the game with 0-1 records in the Ivy League, which created a must-win playoff atmosphere. In a game that honored the Brown National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four teams from 1973, 1975 and 1977 at halftime, Bruno (6-2-1, 1-1 Ivy) was able to capture the magic of those squads in a 1-0 victory.
“We brought a lot of really high energy to the game,” said Quinn English ’18. “We set the tempo, and we set the pace. They had trouble keeping up with us.”
Bruno’s offense pushed the Tigers (2-6-2, 0-2 Ivy) to the limit in the first half, earning six corner kicks in the first 17 minutes of the game. The Bears threatened early as a well-struck corner kick by Jackson Goebel ’20 in the second minute resulted in a shot from Jack Hagstrom ’19 that soared barely wide of the net.
But Brown was unable to capitalize on these early opportunities. The Tigers countered with their own chances, but they were all handled by Brown goalkeeper Joey Cipicchio ’18. Most notably, Cipicchio made a diving save in the 28th minute on a low, rolling shot by Benjamin Issroff to keep the score knotted at zero.
Bruno had a major scoring opportunity in the 35th minute on a corner kick. Tigers goalie Jacob Schachner fell down in the goal box but was able to gather himself in time to make a save on a header by Will Hayward ’21.
At halftime, the teams were both scoreless while the Bears led in shots 5-4 and in corner kicks 7-1. The first half was also very physical, as both squads accrued a combined 14 fouls and two yellow cards.
Just as they had earlier in the game, Brown created several scoring chances in the beginning of the second half, earning two corner kicks in the first three minutes. But, unlike the first half, Brown converted the opportunity. In the 49th minute, English notched his second goal of the season on a one-timer on an assist from the left side of the field by Daniel Schiller ’20 to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.
“There’s no better feeling in the world than scoring in front of the fans and on our home field,” English said.
As the half continued, both teams exchanged shots without many notable chances on goal. On a shot by Gabe Welp ’18.5 after a throw-in from English in the 64th minute, Schachner was forced to make a challenging save on a promising Bears opportunity.
In the 83rd and 84th minutes, Schachner made a few more key saves on a well-placed header by English and a powerful shot from outside the 18-yard box by Connor Gregory ’20.
The Tigers were unable to score as the clock ran down, giving the Bears their first Ivy League win of the season. Brown finished with a 14-6 advantage in shots and an 11-2 lead in corner kicks.
Bruno will take to the road to face crosstown rival Providence College Wednesday before continuing Ivy League play at Harvard Saturday.
