The women's hockey team had little margin for error as it attempted to upset St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University, two of the top four teams in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, over the weekend at Meehan Auditorium. After surrendering seven power-play goals in two games, the Bears' chance for victory disappeared.
Brown was overwhelmed in a 6-2 defeat to No. 5 St. Lawrence on Friday before putting up a good fight in a 2-1 loss to Clarkson on Saturday. The setbacks dropped the team's record to 1-10-1 overall (1-7-1 ECAC).
"Our team is energetic, and we played really hard against two teams, but we're definitely not satisfied with the outcome," said co-captain Hayley Moore '08. "Those teams may be ranked above us, but we know we can beat them."
Brown got off to a good start against St. Lawrence. The Bears opened the scoring 11:03 into the game on a power play when Rylee Olewinski '08 took a pass from Sasha Van Muyen '10 in the slot and slipped a shot past Saints' goalie Maxie Weisz. Moore earned an assist on the play.
The score remained 1-0 until the teams scored a flurry of goals in the final three minutes of the first period. St. Lawrence got on the board with a power-play goal at 17:46, but Moore answered for the Bears 24 seconds later on a slap shot from the blue line. St. Lawrence added its second power play goal with 38 seconds left to tie the game 2-2 heading into the first intermission.
Head Coach Digit Murphy questioned the numerous penalty calls that went against the Bears.
"There were a lot of calls that were kind of phantom," Murphy said. "It's just frustrating because right as we get going, you get penalties. I think that's part of the game, and our kids just need to be a little bit more disciplined."
The Saints took a lead they would not relinquish at 7:24 in the second period on another power play goal - Chelsea Grills' second of the night. The Saints then tacked on their fourth goal at even strength with 1:42 remaining in the session. After two periods St. Lawrence held a 22-9 advantage in shots.
The Bears turned the tables to outshoot the Saints 11-9 in the third but still could not draw closer. St. Lawrence's Carson Duggan scored her third goal of the game at 15:20 and Alison Domenico added the capper, St. Lawrence's fifth power-play goal, 37 seconds later. Goaltender Nicole Stock '09 finished with 25 saves, while her counterpart Weisz made 18.
Brown and St. Lawrence each committed nine penalties, but it was the Saints who took advantage. While Brown matched the Saints 1-1 in goals at even strength, the visitors outscored Brown 5-1 on the power play. Murphy said St. Lawrence's high talent level was the key.
"When you take penalties, now you give the other team that has Olympians and national team players a double advantage," she said. "Because now you've given them a man up and they're better players. A team like ours, with a bunch of journeyman players and younger players, you want to stay even strength and you've got to stay out of the box."
Moore agreed that it is crucial for the team not to take penalties.
"We just need to keep practicing our penalty kill so we can be more effective in games," she said. "But hopefully we can learn to stay out of the box as well."
The Bears committed only five penalties against Clarkson, but the Golden Knights capitalized on their chances. After a scoreless first period, four Brown penalties in the second led to both Clarkson goals. On a power play, Amanda Dittmer took a shot from the point that deflected off Macie Winship '11 and past Stock at 3:21. The Golden Knights doubled their lead 2:47 later when Genevieve Lavoie slammed home a rebound.
The Bears cut the deficit to one on a power play when Moore's shot from the slot reached the back of the net at 8:25. Erin Connors '10 and Erica Kromm '11 picked up assists on Moore's second goal of the weekend and third of the season.
But Brown could draw no closer. Stock once again kept the team in the game as she made 37 saves in the losing effort. Even though the outcomes were not what she had hoped for, Murphy said she could see the positives.
"I really believe that if the kids keep working, they're going to come around," she said. "That's what we talked about in the locker room at the end of this game (against Clarkson). You have to take all the good out of the weekend. The power play is starting to click. ... We answered on a couple of goals. We stayed out of the box in the third period of this game."
With winter break fast approaching, the first half of the season is winding down. Brown travels to Yale on Sunday (3-5-2, 3-5-1 ECAC) in its final game until January. The Bulldogs secured a 3-0 victory in the teams' first meeting on November 3 at Meehan, so a bounceback victory in New Haven would mean a lot to the still-learning team.
"The kids just need to keep persevering and keep believing that they're a good team," Murphy said. "They're going to overcome a lot of the problems we're having right now. It's just executing systems, it's passing, it's making it easier for the next guy and I think that we're struggling with that right now."
