There was no snow on the ground in upstate New York this past weekend, but the men's ice hockey team still received a cold reception from two ECAC rivals. After carrying a 2-1 lead late into the third period, the Bears lost to Colgate University 3-2 in overtime on Friday. Brown then fell apart defensively late in the game against Cornell on Saturday, losing 7-2.
This particular road trip has been an historical thorn in the side of the Bears, with the team only earning one point in 12 games over the last six years.
"It is one of the toughest road trips in college hockey," said Chris Swon '05. "We could have used some points."
Against Colgate, Brown scored with under a minute left to play in the second period to tie the game and then took the lead early in the third period. Brian Ihnacak '07 scored both goals with the same crafty stick work that earned him 10 goals last year.
For most of the third period, Brown's forechecking and neutral zone play stymied the Colgate offense. With three minutes left, however, Colgate knotted the game at two with a goal that deflected off a leg in front of the net.
"In the third period, we set up our defensive forecheck and they really couldn't even get it out of their zone for a while," said goalkeeper Scott Rowan '05. "Then they got a lucky goal and that changed the game."
The game went to a five-minute sudden-death overtime, during which Colgate's game-winning goal came on a power play.
It was a letdown for Brown that the game even reached overtime - after relinquishing its late lead, Bruno had many opportunities to win the game. Among the chances was a Brown two-man advantage that came and went without a goal.
"We had a two-on-one break, some power plays at the end of the game and in overtime, but their goalie played well," Swon said. "It was a little disappointing - we had a lead on the road, and we let two points slip away."
Following last week's stellar performance against Harvard, Rowan had another impressive outing against Colgate, saving 26 shots.
On Saturday, it was Rowan who kept the Bears in the game, as he was peppered by 40 Cornell shots, many of which came on the power play and during odd-man rushes.
"Scott is playing awesome. 7-2 doesn't sound like that, but we really hung him out to dry," Swon said.
For the first two periods, Brown played catch-up with Cornell, pulling to within 2-1 and then 3-2 after being down two goals. But at the end of the second period and throughout the third, Brown's forwards got caught low in the offensive zone and were unable to backcheck quickly enough. The errors translated into a seven-goal total for a Cornell offense that had scored seven goals in two of its previous three games.
"It is tough to go in there with a young team, or with any team," Rowan said of Cornell's notorious Lynah Rink.
Swon said that for some first-years, playing in front of Cornell's raucous crowd can be intimidating.
"They definitely have an advantage in their rink," Swon said. "We played a little timid, and that's not our style of hockey."
One element of play that the Bears need to improve upon, according to Swon, is the team's composure after scoring a goal.
"In both games, we had trouble keeping the other team off the scoreboard right after we scored," Swon said. "We score a big goal and are jumping around, and then for us to let one up is disheartening."
A positive glimmer from the past few games has been the contribution of first-years. Jeff Prough '08 scored his first collegiate goal in the Cornell game, with David Robertson '08 registering the assist for his first career point. Robertson later added his first collegiate goal.
As Brown found against Harvard, special teams are going to be an important ingredient in the team's winning recipe. With more stringent interference and obstruction rules in place, officials have been cracking down on clutching and grabbing, much like the NHL has done in the past few years; thus, power plays and penalty kills will become increasingly crucial to success.
"The officials are calling more penalties this year," Swon said. "So special teams are definitely an exclamation point. We have two freshmen on the power play, but with Les (Haggett '05) out, that hurts. But you've got to look at the other half: We need to score more even-strength goals."
Haggett, this year's captain and one of the team's leading scorers the past two years, has been out with an injury for the past two games. Antonin Roux '07 has also missed time with an injury.
The Bears hope to have both players back as they return home this weekend to host Princeton Friday night and Yale Saturday night.
