This weekend, the men's hockey team (9-12-6 overall, 5-11-4 ECACHL) played at home for the last time during the regular season. The team lost to Dartmouth, 4-3 on Friday night and tied Harvard, 6-6 on Saturday in two important ECACHL contests. Despite finishing with a loss and a tie, the competitiveness of the games was befitting of the Bears' last home games of the season.
Friday's game began with Brown dominating play, but unnecessary penalties and several costly mistakes helped the Big Green pull out the win. On Saturday, Bruno played in front of a large and energetic crowd at Meehan Auditorium and came back from a two-goal deficit in the final five minutes to tie the Crimson 6-6.
"This weekend we did some great things," said Head Coach Roger Grillo. "The problem is, the weekend before, our penalty kill was great, and our power play was weak. This weekend, it flip-flopped. We have to stop the flip-flopping and be more consistent."
Brown jumped all over the Big Green from the first dropped puck, almost slipping one past the visiting goaltender right off the opening face-off to earn a quick lead. This first offensive opportunity was thwarted, but at 3:56 the Bears tallied their first score when forward Brian Ihnacak '07 scored a power-play goal off a pass from forward Ryan Garbutt '09. Forward Sean McMonagle '10 also earned an assist on the goal.
But Dartmouth tied the game less than a minute later, taking advantage of a three-on-two rush 4:42 into the period. The rest of the first 20 minutes of play remained scoreless, and the teams headed into their respective locker rooms tied at 1-1. In the second period, Dartmouth's strong power-play unit then scored two consecutive goals at 6:35 and 8:51 of the period, making the Bears deficit two at 3-1.
Rallying back, forward Jeff Prough '08, Brown's leading scorer, took advantage of a man-up situation when he received a pass at 11:29 in the high slot from defenseman Sean Hurley '08 and rifled a low shot past the Big Green goalie. Unfortunately for the Bears, Dartmouth regained its two-goal lead with 45 seconds left in the period, bringing the score to 4-2.
Just 31 seconds into the third period, forward Matt Vokes '09 tipped Hurley's shot from the point into the net on a power play, bringing the team to within one goal again. Brown had an opportunity to win the game when Dartmouth took a penalty with 52 seconds left in the game and the Bears pulled goaltender Dan Rosen '10 for a six-on-four advantage, but Brown was unable to get the equalizer.
"I would say that we started out well, but there were just too many little things that we didn't do, things that are important if you want to win," said forward Chris Poli '08. "There was a long period of time when we didn't play smart, and that's what killed us. Against a good team like Dartmouth, you can't afford to do that."
The following night, the Bears entertained Harvard in front of a large home crowd on Senior Night. The first period of the game saw lots of scoring from both teams as Brown and Harvard traded goals three separate times in the first 20 minutes to leave the score locked at 3-3 going into the intermission.
The second period was less exciting in terms of scoring, but Brown did manage to earn a temporary lead on an even-strength situation, when McMonagle beat the Harvard goalie with a backhander. With 1:21 left before the break, however, Harvard evened up the score on yet another power-play goal.
The Crimson notched two consecutive goals within 52 seconds of one another - one on a power-play and the second at even strength - to build a 6-4 lead with 9:03 left in the game.
Even though time was running out on them, the Bears charged back in front of the home crowd. Robertson took matters into his own hands, scoring a power-play goal from the point with less than five minutes left. Vokes and Poli both earned assists on the tally.
Rosen, who recorded 25 saves in the contest, was then pulled from the net, and Brown was awarded another power play. With time quickly slipping away, captain and forward Sean Dersch '07 won an offensive zone face off and slid the puck back to Robertson at the point. Robertson passed the puck laterally to Hurley, and he blasted a slap shot through the Crimson goalie with only 12 seconds left in the period to even the score at 6-6, where it stayed through the overtime period.
"I really want to thank our fans," Poli said. "They have been great all this year and were huge on Saturday. They stuck around until the end of the game and were loud and encouraging. They gave us a great atmosphere to play in, and their support resonated on the bench and in the locker room and kept us motivated and inspired. They were a big part of our tying the game, actually."
After Saturday's game, the team's three seniors, Dersch, Ihnacak and assistant captain Antonin Roux '07 were honored for their leadership and positive contributions throughout their careers.
"I know I speak for the whole team when I say that we really appreciate all that Tony, Sean and Inner have done this year," Poli said. "They were great leaders and great teammates both on and off the ice."
The team will hit the road next weekend, rounding out its season to face Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday night and Union College on Saturday night. If everything breaks right for the Bears in the final regular season series, they still have an outside shot to host the first round of the ECACHL playoffs.
"I think we all really want to do enough to get back at home for the playoffs," Poli said. "Our fans are great, and with them, Brown would be a tough place to play the first-round of a tournament for almost any team in our league."
