Unlike the previous road trip to upstate New York that handed the men's hockey team two losses, this past weekend's trek to the Empire State saw the Bears pick up two much-needed league wins. After starting the season 1-3-1 and taking up residence in the ECACHL's basement, three straight wins have the team back at .500 both overall at 4-4-1 and in the conference at 3-3-1.
On Friday, Brian Ihnacak '07 scored two goals to help Brown down Clarkson University 4-2. The following night, Sean Dersch '07 and Ihnacak each netted a pair of goals en route to a 4-1 victory over St. Lawrence University.
"It's huge going up to the north country and getting two wins," Ihnacak said. "We're finally clicking and trying to live up to our potential."
Along with Ihnacak, who was named the ECACHL Player of the Week for his five-point performance (he also recorded an assist against Clarkson), Adam D'Alba '08 earned ECACHL Goalie of the Week honors, stopping 64 of 67 shots on the weekend.
"D'Alba has been playing great," said assistant captain Gerry Burke '05. "For a freshman to come in and play the way he's been playing is impressive."
The team's hot streak has it at .500 for the first time all season and puts Brown into a fourth-place tie with Harvard.
"We came off the win over University of Minnesota-Duluth pretty high and we carried that back into our league games and put ourselves back in good position," said captain Les Haggett '05. For Haggett, who is from Northwood, N.Y., the two games were somewhat of a homecoming.
"It was great. I got to go home for Thanksgiving, and then my whole family was in the stands for both wins," he said.
It was not until the third period of both games that the Bears were able to pull away from their opponents. Against Clarkson, Bruno tied the score at 2 in the second period. Mike Meech '05 scored the game-winner nine minutes into the third period, and Jeff Prough '08 added an insurance goal six minutes later.
On Saturday, Brown allowed a power play goal in the first period, but then Dersch scored midway through the second and tallied the game-winner in the third.
"There was that confidence in the locker room and really no panic," Burke said. "When we went out there in the third we got the job done, which is good to see, especially when you have a young team."
Many of the offensive contributions have come from the younger players, especially the line of Dersch, Antonin Roux '07 and Brian McNary '08. And after a slow start, Ihnacak has regained the scoring touch that made him last season's Ivy League and ECACHL Rookie of the Year.
"Guys are really jelling right now," Burke said. "The line of Dersch, Roux and McNary has been together since the Yale game (Nov. 13) and had a great weekend."
On the other side of the puck, defensemen Paul Baier '08, Sean Hurley '08 and David Robertson '08 have helped upset opposing forwards as well as goaltenders.
"Like I said earlier in the season, putting three freshman defensemen into the fire is pretty unusual," Burke said. "They've done a great job. Hurley is on a point streak, Baier is on the first power play and Robertson is on the second power play and penalty kill."
In net, D'Alba has anchored all three victories, amassing 109 saves while tallying a .965 save percentage, the best in the nation.
"He stepped into net for the Minnesota-Duluth game and played with tons of confidence," Haggett said. "He's carried through and is getting the job done."
The large number of first-years contributing to the team has not gone unnoticed, a testament to Grillo's ability to bring new talent to College Hill.
"It shows how well our coach is doing recruiting," Ihnacak said.
Before taking a break for final exams, Brown will play two more league games, against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Union College team that is undefeated in the ECACHL.
"Things are really exciting in the locker room right now," Haggett said. "Right from the start of the year the bits and pieces were there, but now everyone is really buying into our system (of play) and people seem to be on the same page."
