The women's ice hockey team is back at Meehan Auditorium this weekend to face ECACHL and Ivy League rivals Yale and Princeton on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, respectively. It is a welcome homecoming for the Bears, who have played just once at home since Dec. 3 and are coming off a tough road trip that included visits to both sixth-ranked Harvard and top-ranked University of Minnesota.
Despite its current three-game losing streak, Head Coach Digit Murphy says the team will make no changes in its style of play.
"We're going to stick to the game plan," Murphy said, referring to Brown's traditional defense-based system. "There's no secret. We just need to focus on the execution. The team is continuing to learn and jell, and I think they're ready to get into rhythm."
With two-thirds of the regular season completed, Brown has a record of 7-5-0 in the ECACHL and 10-8-1 overall. Although the Bears remain above .500, at the same point last season they were 8-1-1 in the ECACHL and 12-5-2 overall.
While Brown finds itself behind last year's pace, the season is far from over. This weekend's games could prove decisive in determining the course of the rest of the season. After this weekend, only eight games remain before the ECACHL playoffs in March. Two of those games are against powerhouse Dartmouth (19-1-0, 12-0 ECACHL), which was ranked second in the nation this week in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll.
Traditionally, a game against Yale has been the perfect way for Bruno to break out of a slump. The Bears have dominated Yale, winning every game against the Bulldogs for the last 16 years. Brown continued the streak in this season's previous matchup on Nov. 13, winning easily, 4-1.
However, Yale may not remain a pushover for long. Bulldog Erin Duggan is the reigning ECACHL Player of the Week, and under coach Hilary Witt, the Bulldogs (10-10, 8-3 ECACHL) are off to their best start in school history and are a surprising third in the ECACHL standings. Yale's reputation may still be considered lowly, but "especially in women's hockey, you get stereotypes that stick for teams, (even when they no longer apply)," said Murphy.
The Brown-Princeton rivalry has been more evenly matched in recent years. The two teams are fifth and sixth, respectively, in the ECACHL standings, and the Tigers (10-5-3, 4-4-1 ECACHL) are looking for revenge after a first-round playoff loss to Brown last year. If the teams remain close in the rankings, another playoff series is an exciting possibility.
A hardworking, energetic Princeton team got the best of the Bears in their last meeting on Nov. 12, a 3-2 Brown loss. The Tigers, much like Brown, have had a respectable but shaky season thus far, going 1-1-1 in their last three games.
The Bears, who have been plagued by injuries all season, will be playing without forward Krissy McManus '05, who is sidelined with a groin injury. Brown will also be without the services of Margaret Ramsay '06, who has been out since early November with a leg wound.
The puck drops against Yale on Friday at 7 p.m. at Meehan Auditorium. Saturday's contest against Princeton begins at 4 p.m.
