Despite a pair of strong third periods, the women's hockey team was swept over the weekend by Eastern College Athletic Conference titans No. 1 Harvard and Dartmouth. Brown's record fell to 3-16-4 (2-11-3 ECAC).
The Bears opened the weekend with a 4-1 loss to the Crimson, the nation's top-ranked squad and owners of an unbeaten ECAC record, in a Friday matinee game at Meehan Auditorium. But the following day's 4-2 loss to the Big Green in Hanover, N.H., stung even more, because while the two teams were evenly matched at even strength, Dartmouth scored three power-play goals to storm to victory.
Head Coach Digit Murphy offered a simple prescription for what ails the Bears.
"If our team continues to take penalties, we will continue to lose hockey games," she said. "Nicole Stock ('09) just cannot be (forced) to continue to make incredible saves to win hockey games. ... It's about discipline and we need to be a more disciplined team."
On Friday, the Crimson controlled the action from the start, but took the lead only after making a mistake. Harvard was whistled for a penalty while on a power play at 13:19 of the first period, but it was not Brown that took advantage of its new life in the four-on-four. Instead, the Crimson's Kathryn Farni collected the puck deep in her own end, split between defenders and skated all the way down the ice, deked to the right near the net and then slipped a shot between Stock's legs to give Harvard the lead. The Crimson doubled their lead less than four minutes later and never looked back.
After getting a tally in the second period and the first power-play goal of the game at 4:03 in the third, Harvard held an insurmountable 4-0 lead. But then the Bears came alive and challenged the Crimson down the stretch to finish strong, giving the team something to build on. Brown outshot Harvard 14-11 in the third period, but did particularly well in the last five minutes, culminating in a goal with 1:20 left. Rylee Olewinski '08 collected the rebound on the right side after a shot by Hayley Moore '08 and found the back of the net. Savannah Smith '09 also earned an assist on the play.
"It was a good effort by my linemates (Moore and Smith) on their forechecking," Olewinski said. "It's good that we ruined the shutout, but I wish that we could have taken that energy a little earlier in the game and gotten a few more (goals) in."
Still, the strong finish gave encouragement to the Bears about the possibility of upsetting Dartmouth the next day.
"If we play like that for all three periods, it's definitely going to help us out and we'll come out on top," Olewinski said on Friday.
But it wasn't to be. Penalties, combined with Dartmouth's efficiency on power plays, killed the Bears. The teams were even at nine shots apiece in the first period, but it was the Big Green who struck first with a power-play goal at 7:36. Dartmouth beat Brown's penalty kill for two more goals in the second period. In all, the Big Green converted three of their first four power-play opportunities.
Once again, the Bears improved dramatically in the final period, killing both Big Green power plays and winning the period, 2-1. Moore scored her 10th goal of the season at 9:48 when she knocked in the rebound after a shot by Olewinski, who collided with a Dartmouth defender. Maggie Suprey '11 also picked up an assist on the play.
"We started off on a 3-on-2 (breakaway)," Moore said. "All three of us, me, Maggie and Rylee, were just going hard to the net. Rylee took a shot and I knew their goalie wasn't in the net. I knew where the net was, but I couldn't see where I was shooting in and I was hoping it would go in."
But the Big Green crushed any thoughts of a rally by tacking on a goal at 12:28, five seconds after a Brown power play had ended, to take a 4-1 lead.
The Bears finished strong as Erica Kromm '11 scored her third goal of the season on a power play with 2:42 left. Jenny Cedorchuk '10 and Andrea Hunter '10 picked up assists on the play, but Kromm said that Olewinski's role was crucial even though she didn't pick up a point.
"Basically, I just shot from the point and Rylee did an awesome job of screening the goalie," Kromm said. "I thought she tipped it in."
Though the losses hurt, Murphy said the Bears' ability to rally shows what the team is capable of.
"The fact that our kids continue to fight through difficult situations says that we really have an upside that is a force to be reckoned with," she said.
The Bears will try to harness that upside this weekend in two crucial home games. Brown will host Quinnipiac (1-12-3 ECAC) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Princeton (9-6-1 ECAC) on Saturday at 4 p.m. With only six games remaining, the Bears need wins, but Murphy said the remainder of the season means more than that.
"I told the kids that the next six games are hugely important for their character and for their commitment to the program," she said. "We have to commit to excellence. ... Whether you win the last six games of the season and put yourself into the playoffs or you don't, if you commit to it, it doesn't even matter what the record is. You committed to something, and that's a positive lesson that you've learned about yourselves. That's why you play sports."
