Judged solely by its winter break record of 2-3-3, the men's ice hockey team has played at a mediocre level over the past five weeks. However, Brown's victory over No. 15 Cornell and its tie with Colgate University this past weekend were two of the team's best results of the season. Its most recent play leaves the team's record at 8-7-4 overall and 4-6-2 in the ECACHL.
"We played some solid, very solid hockey over the break," said Head Coach Roger Grillo. "The team did a lot of positive things, and it's finally paying off, as we could see last weekend. I just tell the guys that if they continue to skate hard and do those little things, they'll be rewarded."
On Friday night, Brown faced off with Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y. Colgate scored a short-handed goal midway through the first period, but Brown finally answered back on its seventh power play of the night. At 17:12 into the second period, forward Aaron Volpatti '10 slapped a rebound past the Colgate goaltender to tie the score at 1-1. The goal was the first of Volpatti's college career.
With 12 seconds left in the second period, Colgate reclaimed the lead with an even-strength goal. But the Bears struck right back with forward Sean Muncy '09 tying the game just 3:46 into the third period when he tipped in a shot from defenseman Sean Hurley '08. Neither team scored in the rest of the period and goaltender Dan Rosen '10 made four saves during the extra period to preserve the tie.
On Saturday night, the Bears traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., to face No. 15 Cornell. Brown had not defeated the Big Red on its home ice since a 5-4 win in February 1995 and that did not look likely to change when Cornell struck first, 7:46 into the first period.
Brown spent much of the period on the penalty kill and as a result had very few scoring chances. Late in the period, however, forward Eric Slais '09 won a defensive zone face-off and sprung linemates Chris Poli '08 and Jeff Prough '08 on a two-on-two break. Prough managed to speed ahead and buried a shot in the back of the net, tying the game at 17:58. Poli and Hunter Thunell '10 both earned assists on the goal. The point was the first of Thunell's college career.
The second period was scoreless, but Brown erupted for four goals in the last 20 minutes of play. The first of these was a short-handed goal, Brown's second of the season, and it occurred when Sean Dersch '07 scored off of a two-on-one break with Sean Hurley '08 at 5:13. But 27 seconds later, the Big Red answered back, tying the score at 2-2.
After 15 minutes of back-and-forth play and Brown clinging to a 3-2 advantage thanks to a Brian McNary '08 goal at 9:55, Ryan Garbutt '09 put the game out of reach at 18:03. The goal was the fourth time in the past seven games Garbutt has tallied.
Hoping to close the margin, the Big Red pulled its goalie immediately after Garbutt's goal for an extra attacker. The tactic backfired, however, and Muncy buried an open-net goal with 23 seconds left in play to give Brown its first win of 2007.
"The guys are all doing great," Grillo said when asked if any players particularly stood out as key contributors over the vacation. "It's hard to narrow it down to just one or two because it really is a team effort. Hurley had a great weekend though. He is just playing phenomenal hockey. And the team's leaders, (assistant captain Antonin) Roux ('07) and (captain) Dersch are tremendous and really do a great job. Rosen is, of course, continuing to be solid in net, and that really helps us."
The ECACHL representatives agreed with Grillo's assessment of the team's standouts this past month. Hurley earned ECAC Player of the Week honors this week after recording three assists over the weekend's two-game series. At the start of the month, Rosen, who has been integral to the Bears' success, earned both ECAC Rookie of the Week honors and the ECAC's Goalie of the Week award in early December.
"I don't really know what to say about the awards," Rosen said. "It's nice to get them and all but I just think I'm fortunate. Almost anytime a goalie gets something like this it's a function of the team in front of him."
Brown's strong showing this weekend took the sting off of what had been a difficult winter break. The first action the team saw over the holiday occurred during the Wells Fargo Denver Cup, an annual tournament in Denver for top Division I college teams from around the country. The Bears faced the University of Massachusetts-Lowell on Dec. 29 in the first round of competition and tied the Riverhawks 1-1.
While the game officially counts as a tie for statistical purposes, a shootout determined which of the teams advanced to the next round. The Bears were knocked out of the tournament and into the consolation round after losing the shootout.
"Our game at Denver was definitely not our best of the year," Rosen said. "Nobody really knows what happened. ... They came out flying and we just weren't ready to play. That's a team we could have and should have beaten. We were lucky to get out with a tie. I guess the good thing about the game was we didn't play near to our potential and still managed a tie, which shows how good we really can be when we come to play."
The following day, the Bears faced Mercyhurst College and defeated the Lakers 3-2 in overtime. Dersch scored the game-winning goal off a pass from forward Jeremy Russell '10 at 1:22 into overtime play.
On Jan. 6, the Bears traveled to New Haven to play their second game of the season against Yale. The trip was a disappointing one for the Bears, who lost to the Bulldogs 4-3.
The team made a second trip to Connecticut the following weekend to battle then-20th ranked Quinnipiac University and Princeton. That turned into another unsuccessful weekend for the Bears, who lost to the Bobcats 5-1 and to the Tigers 3-2 in overtime.
After seven consecutive games on the road, the Bears will resume play at home this weekend, facing Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday and Saturday nights in Meehan Auditorium. Both games will be crucial for the Bears because victories in league games will help solidify their position in postseason tournament play.
"We are practicing pretty consistently, and we have been all year," Poli said. "The team has really good habits in terms of always coming to the rink prepared to work hard and be mentally focused, and this work ethic is really starting to pay off for us. For this weekend, we just hope to build on these past two games and play that same way. If we do, we're all set."
