The women's ice hockey team had an unsuccessful weekend, losing 4-1 at Princeton Friday and 7-5 at Quinnipiac University the following day. The twin losses put the Bears at 7-15-2 overall, 4-13-1 in the ECACHL, and they stand in 10th place overall. The losses came as a disappointment because the team had hoped to continue the success it enjoyed at the start of the season's second half.
In Friday night's game, Brown held the Tigers scoreless until the Tigers took advantage of a power-play opportunity to score the game's first goal. The Tigers' Lizzy Keady found Dina McCumber to set up a one-timer at 14:50 of the first period. Just 57 seconds later, Princeton struck again when Kim Pearce slammed home a rebound to increase the lead to 2-0.
In the second period, Princeton continued to dominate, with goals by Alison Ralph at 7:50 and Stephanie Denino at 16:35 putting the Tigers ahead of the Bears 4-0.
Bruno finally got on the scoreboard when it took advantage of the power play at 11:51 of the third period. Sasha Van Muyen '10 deflected a pass from Co-captain Hayley Moore '08 past the Princeton goaltender to cut the lead to 4-1 with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. Unfortunately, Brown couldn't mount any more offense, and the game ended with the score still 4-1.
Brown Head Coach Digit Murphy cited the team's failure to score with the player advantage as one reason for the loss. "We had power plays early and didn't capitalize," she said. "Had we capitalized, momentum would have been slung our way."
In Saturday's game at Quinnipiac, the first period ended with the score tied at two goals apiece, but the Bears came out firing in the second period. After winning the draw, Rylee Olewinski '08 led an attack up the ice and Van Muyen found the net for the second consecutive game to put the Bears ahead 3-2 just seven seconds into the period.
The game looked promising for Brown when Moore increased the lead to 4-2 at 10:22 in the second, but in the second half of the period Brown's defense collapsed. Quinnipiac scored four times in a span of just over seven minutes to finish the second period leading 6-4. Though Moore would find the net once more in the third period, it was too little, too late, and Bruno lost its second game of the weekend 7-5.
In both games, the Bears were hurt by allowing multiple goals in short spurts, placing them in difficult situations. In Friday night's game, the Princeton team scored its second goal just 57 seconds after its first tally. Likewise, on Saturday, less than two minutes after taking the lead 5-4, Quinnipiac struck again to increase its advantage to two goals.
"We're a very young team, so we often have to put four freshman players on the line," Murphy said. "When one bad thing happens, they don't bounce back as a team full of seniors would, because many of these girls don't have a lot of experience playing in games where their team is behind."
The Bears had hoped to secure wins at Princeton and Quinnipiac. After losing the first nine games of the season, Brown enjoyed a remarkable 7-3-2 stretch entering the weekend, dating back to its Nov. 24 upset victory over Providence College for the Mayor's Cup. The stretch included several improbable wins over such teams as Boston University and Yale.
The weekend saw more strong play from Moore, who, with an assist at Princeton and two goals at Quinnipiac, extended her point streak to 11 games. Murphy said that Moore, who is slated as a future U.S. Olympian, is "definitely the future of our team." Murphy also praised Olewinski's play, noting that she has "really stepped up to the plate this season," and lauded the leadership of the senior captains.
The losses were even more disappointing, since the Bears have an extremely difficult schedule for the rest of the season. On Wednesday they face University of Connecticut, whose 15-10-2 season includes wins over Dartmouth and Harvard, currently the top two teams in the ECACHL.
The Bears then face Union College on Friday and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, both at home. Finally, they will close out the regular season on the road the following weekend, battling Dartmouth and Harvard, currently ranked No. 3 and No. 6 in the nation respectively.
"All of the games are winnable," Murphy said. "Hockey is a game of momentum swings, and I'm going to try to instill enthusiasm in our team, because every time you step out of the gate wearing that Brown jersey, you should play with pride."
