The men's hockey team's season ended Saturday in Hamilton, N.Y., with a 3-0 loss to third-seeded Colgate in the ECACHL quarterfinals, which followed a 4-1 loss the night before.
Brown entered the weekend fresh off a rousing home playoff sweep of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the first round. With 11 goals in two games, hopes of reaching the ECACHL semis and a berth in the NCAAs were rekindled. Instead, for the second year in a row, Brown was swept in the quarterfinals.
"It was a tough weekend," said assistant captain Gerry Burke '05. "Colgate did a great job. They outplayed us. We couldn't get it going offensively."
Overshadowed by Cornell and Harvard in the ECACHL, the Red Raiders entered the series with 22 wins on the year and a conference record of 14-5-3, including two wins over Brown. Entering the weekend, U.S. College Hockey Online's National Pairwise analysis had ranked Colgate as the 16th-best team in the country, while placing Brown at No. 26. Pairwise rankings calculate relative "Power Ratings" that take into account schedule strength and out-of-conference play.
In the weekend's two games, the Raiders put their patented clutch-and-grab game to efficient use, dominating Brown in shots and using their special teams' effectiveness to prevail.
"They don't have any guys that stand out at you," Burke said. "But they play their system all the time, and they finish every check. They scored when they had to on the power play, and they always had three guys back. They were going to make us beat them (and not beat themselves)."
Despite a strong effort Friday night, "We were trying to ride the momentum from the past weekend, hoping to jump on them early." Burke said. "For the first six or seven minutes, we were controlling down low, but we couldn't get anything going."
Goalie Adam D'Alba '08 kept Brown in the game during the first period, stopping 11 shots while the Brown offense was unable to break through. At the 8:30 mark of the period, Brown went ahead 1-0 when Brian McNary '08 scored a power play goal off of his own rebound.
But McNary's goal would be the only Brown goal for the weekend. Colgate evened the score at 13:37 when it converted on the first of three consecutive power play attempts en route to scoring the first of four unanswered goals.
On Saturday, special teams execution and shot differentials stood out on the scoreboard again. Colgate got all the offense it needed in the second period when, while on a two-man advantage, a slap shot from the point found its way through a screen and got by D'Alba. Seven minutes later, Colgate's Tyler Burton, a favorite for ECACHL Rookie of the Year, buried a rebound opportunity to make it 2-0.
In the third period, with their final chance to get back in the game, the Bears failed to convert on another man-up chance, concluding the weekend 1-for-11 on the power play as Colgate goalie Steve Silverthorne held on for his fifth shutout of the year.
After the disappointing losses and a long bus ride back to campus, the Sunday morning light did little to soften the thudding finality of Saturday's final buzzer.
"At the moment, the disappointment is very tough (to deal with)," Burke said. "It's hard to put into words."
But the tough ending sealed a positive year and an impressive four-year stint for the team's seniors. This was Brown's third-straight winning season, and Les Haggett '05, Rob Kapuscinski '05, Mike Meech '05, Scott Rowan '05, Chris Swon '05 and Burke concluded their Brown careers as the winningest class in 30 years.
"I had a great four years here." Burke said. "I'm going to miss being with these guys. All of the seniors would say the same."
"It seemed like not very long ago that I was a freshman, and the end is very sudden. But it goes by fast. You've got to make the most of it," he added.
For the younger players returning next year, the disappointment that ended the 2004-05 season may offer lessons in the long run.
"They look good for next year," Burke said of next year's team. "They should be on top next year and the year after. This is a dedicated group, and the coaching staff is bringing in more kids that can play right away."
