One tie, an overtime loss and two blowouts into its season, the men's hockey team (1-3-1) earned its first league win Saturday night. After a forgettable 5-1 loss against Princeton on Friday, the Bears regrouped the following night and grabbed an early lead against Yale that it did not relinquish, winning 5-2.
Brown and Yale came into Saturday's contest as the only winless teams in the ECACHL, but by the end of the first period it looked like Yale would be without company shortly. Brian McNary '08 tallied the first two goals of his collegiate career, and nearly netted a third for a hat trick, all in the first period. He would grab an assist on Brown's third goal and earn first star honors for the game.
"It was nice to finally get some goals, but it was nicer to get the two points," McNary said.
McNary was not the only Brown player with a breakout performance. Goaltender Kevin Kliman '06, who came into Friday's game to relieve Scott Rowan '05 after Princeton gained a 4-0 lead, started for the first time in his Brown career against Yale. Kliman had 21 saves, including several key stops in the third when Yale pulled to within 3-2.
"I was really impressed with his performance," said Head Coach Roger Grillo. "He played solid and did what he had to do to win. I'm happy for the guys ... especially the young guys."
The end of the Yale game could not have come any sooner for all of the Bears, especially Kliman.
"It was the longest 60 minutes of my life," Kliman said. "I knew I didn't like not playing, but I forgot how much I loved playing. I haven't felt this way in a long time."
It was not until with 2:13 remaining that Kliman and the Bears could breathe easy. Mike Meech '05 buried a lose puck after an Adam Tichauer '06 shot from the point could not be collected by Yale goalkeeper Josh Gartner. An empty-net goal by Les Haggett '05 with 1:40 sealed the win.
Throughout the night, Gartner, the son of NHL Hall of Fame forward Mike Gartner, gave up big rebounds that allowed Brown to score four goals on him, including two on the power play. Despite Brown's offensive output, Grillo was not pleased with the entire performance of his young squad.
"I was disappointed with the way we played in the third period," Grillo said. "We still need to get better. It's the learning situation where you need to walk the tightrope. You need to be patient with young guys on the team and demanding of things at the same time. But it's a lot more fun to learn a lesson off a win than a loss."
On Friday Brown learned a losing lesson at the hands of a surprising Princeton squad that was picked to finish last in the ECACHL but is currently tied for fourth place.
"We were sloppy off the puck and defensively we gave them too many opportunities," Grillo said.
Although Brown held an 18-7 advantage in shots in the first period, Princeton took a 2-0 lead into the locker room.
"We didn't score early and panicked and didn't stick to our game plan," Grillo said. "We fought the puck and didn't support it well."
Princeton goalie Eric Leroux stymied the Brown offense for nearly the entire game, but more importantly, when the game was still tied at zero.
"Our goalie gave us a chance to win. He was our best penalty killer," said Guy Gadowsky, who is in his first year as Princeton's head coach. "Brown could have easily been up on us 2-0 in the first period."
In the first two periods, defensive woes led to easy Princeton scores. Botched defensive assignments and poor coverage gave Princeton several three-on-two and two-on-one chances deep in Brown's zone.
A late power play goal by Sean Hurley '08 staved off a potential shutout for Princeton. Hurley became the 10th different goal-scorer for Brown this season, yet even with different players contributing, Brown has not been able to get the scoring when it has needed it most.
"The sense of urgency has to be there before we go down two goals," said co-captain Gerry Burke '05. "We played well in the third period (against Princeton), but there is no reason we can't play like that every period."
Against Yale, Brown found the urgency early, and through an impressive offensive display netted three straight goals. All three goals resulted from Brown stringing together several quick passes that were intended shots. On the second goal, David Robertson '08 rifled a shot from a low angle that went wide and found Burke at the point. Burke failed to fully connect on the shot, which sailed wide, but McNary redirected the puck past Gartner.
Three of Brown's walking wounded returned to action in the weekend split, with Haggett and Antonin Roux '07 each collecting a goal and an assist and Seth Seidman '08 starting both nights. Next weekend the Bears face non-league competition in tournament play at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
