Never count out the women's hockey team before January. The Bears always find a way to right the ship.
Things looked bleak this season after Brown started out 1-10-2, going winless after a season-opening 1-0 triumph over Union on Oct. 26. But the Bears rallied back to post a 2-3-1 record over winter break, with two of the losses coming narrowly against ranked opponents.
"We've always been better (in the) second half, always," said Head Coach Digit Murphy. "It's because of our commitment to teaching. ... We really commit to the process early in the season. We're not afraid to make mistakes early in the season just to win a hockey game. What ends up happening is that we get better as the season progresses."
The turnaround began against No. 1 New Hampshire on January 5, Bruno's first game in more than a month. Brown lost, 3-1, despite a goal from co-captain Rylee Olewinski '08 and 39 saves by Nicole Stock '09, but the game was more competitive than the final score indicated, with one UNH goal coming during an empty net with 55 seconds left in the game. Murphy said that the Bears' ability to hang tough against New Hampshire gave the team confidence, especially heading into competition against lesser opponents.
"When a young team starts to believe that you can play with these programs that are ranked, that's a huge confidence boost," she said. "If you look at New Hampshire, they're the top-ranked team and you still have teams in your conference that are not ranked. If you do the math, you could beat these teams if you have the right attitude going in and you make the right commitment to executing the plan."
The team showed its resiliency by pulling out a 3-3 tie at Northeastern the following day. The Huskies scored twice in the 10th minute of the third period to take a 3-1 lead, but Andrea Hunter '10 scored off of a rebound at 15:59 to cut the lead to one. With 1:18 left in regulation and an extra attacker on the ice, co-captain Hayley Moore '08 scored to knot the game. Brown then outshot Northeastern 6-1 in the five-minute overtime period but failed to find the back of the net. Nevertheless, the tie was sweet enough.
"The team had the refuse-to-lose attitude," Murphy said. "I think the turning point of the second half (of the season) could have happened right there."
On Jan. 11 in Hamden, Conn., Brown picked up its second win of the season in style, trouncing Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference doormat Quinnipiac, 6-1. Moore scored twice, and Heather Lane '08, Savannah Smith '09, Jenny Cedorchuk '10 and Erin Connors '10 chipped in a goal apiece, while Stock stonewalled the Bobcats with 22 saves. It was the dominance with which they won, however, that was special for the Bears.
"That was a great feeling," Stock said. "It was good to break out and score six goals. I thought we played really well as a team and moved the puck well. It was a big win for us and a really big confidence booster."
A 2-0 loss at Princeton the next day took some of the wind out of Brown's sails. The Bears were whistled for eight penalties, limited to 17 shots and surrendered another empty-net goal with two seconds left, but Stock made 39 saves, including 15 during Tigers' power plays. Two days later, Stock was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week for the second time this season, but she saved her biggest games of the season for the next week.
Brown opened a long road trip on Jan. 18 with a 5-2 victory over non-league opponent Niagara. Moore scored three goals and added an assist to move past Tara Mounsey '01 and Kristy Zamora '02 into 11th place all-time at Brown with 121 career points. Olewinski also scored twice and Hunter added a goal and an assist. Meanwhile, Stock turned away the Purple Eagles with 39 saves.
Moore's goals upped her team-leading total to eight, five of which have come in January.
"It was nice to have Hayley Moore back in true form," Murphy said. "I think she's been struggling as of late. She's put a lot of pressure on herself. I think she's come out of it as a senior leader on our team."
It was Stock's turn to shine in a 4-2 loss to No. 6 Mercyhurst the following day. Mercyhurst fired 69 shots at the goaltender and Stock turned away 66 of them, shattering the previous Brown record for saves in a game. Kristen Rendell '90 previously held the record with 59 saves in December of 1989. Stock's 27 first-period saves broke the record for saves in a period. Mara Spaulder '86 made 26 in March 1985. Stock said she felt awed to join the Brown record books.
"Just to be in the record book with players like Ali Brewer ('00), who won the Patty Kazmaier (Award, given to the top woman college hockey player in the country), I mean that's just an honor to be in that kind of company," Stock said.
Despite Stock's heroics, Lakers' All-American Meghan Agosta scored four goals, including an empty-netter, to beat the Bears. But Stock's effort helped to keep the game competitive.
"If you don't have a good goaltender, and a team like Mercyhurst throws (70) shots at you, you lose dismally and you're talking about a really dejected team," Murphy said. "Nicole Stock instills confidence in us and, if she's playing well, the team has a chance to compete and win hockey games. That's a testament to a true competitor and a true all-league candidate. It's not just that you play behind a good team and you get 14 to 20 shots a game. She's seeing a lot of pucks and she's getting the job done."
The following week Stock repeated as the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week and was later named USCHO.com's Division I Defensive Player of the Week. Her 663 saves this season are just 18 shy of Brewer's record-setting total at Brown in the 1999-00 season.
The Bears may be headed in the right direction, but they still have a tall task ahead of them if they hope to reach the ECAC playoffs. Brown's 2-8-2 record and six points place the team 10th in the league, five points out of the eighth-place finish it would need to make the postseason. Brown continues its quest with a pair of home games this weekend against eighth-place Cornell on Friday at 7 p.m. and seventh-place Colgate on Saturday at 4 p.m.
"We're already thinking ahead to this weekend with Cornell and Colgate and looking at them as two easily beatable teams," Stock said. "With big wins at Niagara and Quinnipiac, we're starting to score goals, our team's gaining confidence, and I think that's going to be huge."
