The women's hockey team wore pink jerseys over the weekend in a pair of games at Meehan Auditorium to commemorate the Eastern College Athletic Conference's Pink at the Rink campaign and Brown's Breast Cancer Awareness Week. But the Bears couldn't escape a season-long trend of inconsistency.
Brown suffered a 5-4 loss on Friday to Quinnipiac, which entered with one win in ECAC play. Bruno turned around the following day to tie Princeton 2-2. The Tigers entered the game tied for third in the league standings. Brown's record fell to 3-17-5 overall and 2-12-4 in league play.
"This team can play with anyone," said Head Coach Digit Murphy. "Unfortunately, we play down or up to the level of our opponents. Somehow we have to figure out a way to just play our game regardless of who we're playing."
Quinnipiac had all the luck at the onset of Friday's game. After a shot by Rylee Olewinski '08 deflected off of the crossbar in the first minute of the game, Quinnipiac was able to get on the board first. Goaltender Nicole Stock '09 was whistled for tripping 11:19 into the first period. Stock remained in net while Sasha Van Muyen '10 served the penalty, but the Bobcats capitalized for a power-play goal 1:44 later. The Bears failed to capitalize on a five-on-three advantage that lasted 1:30 in the closing minutes of the first period, and the score remained 1-0 well into the second.
Despite Brown's pink jerseys, the dominant color of the final 26 minutes of the game was red -- the red glare of the goal light. The Bears tied the score with 5:48 left in the second period, when Hayley Moore '08 knocked home a rebound off Olewinski's shot. Van Muyen also picked up an assist on the goal. Quinnipiac went on a power play 14 seconds later and retook the lead with 5:07 left, but Brown rallied to tie the score once again with 2:45 left in the second period when Olewinski and Moore set up Van Muyen right in front of Quinnipiac goalie Tia Wishert, who was unable to make the save.
Both Murphy and Moore said that the strong finish to the second period gave the Bears confidence, but another quick momentum shift to the Bobcats killed that buzz. Brown controlled the puck at the start of the third period and was beginning its attack when Quinnipiac's Janine Duffy intercepted a pass in her own end, broke up the ice past two Brown defenders, Erica Kromm '11 and Jenny Cedorchuk '10, who were pinching up, and lifted a shot over Stock's right shoulder to give the Bobcats a 3-2 lead 35 seconds into the period.
"That hurt a lot," Moore said. "We had the momentum, and then for them to get the turnover and capitalize on that two-on-zero (breakaway) was not to our advantage."
But the Bears fought back. Moore earned her second assist of the game when, during a power play, she sent a pass up to Andrea Hunter '10. Hunter passed back to Kromm, who rifled a shot over Wishert to tie the game at 5:46. Brown took the lead at 11:00 when Moore found Jaclyn Small '11 at the left point, who scored the first goal of her career. But Murphy did not take the 4-3 lead for granted.
"I wasn't confident at all," she said. "I kept saying on the bench, 'Ladies, the game's not over. You've got nine minutes. Get it in deep, one guy high, get it in deep, one guy high,' and we failed to do it. It's a young team and they (haven't been) in that situation and it comes back to bite you."
Ultimately, the Bobcats roared back for the victory. Brandice Moniz found a crack between Stock's glove and the crossbar to tie the game at 13:58. With 3:13 remaining in the game, Antoinette Maldonado found the back of the net to give Quinnipiac a 5-4 lead.
Brown pulled Stock with 1:32 left, but Bruno was unable to put a shot on goal before time ran out. The Bears unleashed a season-high 54 shots, but Wishert contained Brown's attack with a 50-save effort.The Bears hoped to quickly shake off the defeat before facing Princeton the next day.
"We need to learn from what happened today and get motivated and use that our advantage tomorrow," Moore said. "We need to know that the mistakes we made today can't be made tomorrow."
The Bears reduced their number of mistakes, which avoided another loss for the Bears. Brown raced out to a quick 2-0 lead, going on a power play 1:30 into the game and scoring 54 seconds later. Hunter took the puck behind the net, pulling Princeton goalie Kristen Young out of position before passing to Olewinski, who found Moore in front of the net for an easy goal.
It took the Bears only 37 seconds to double the lead when Kath Surbey '10 collected a pass from Savannah Smith '09 and slipped the puck just inside the right post.
"It was good to have a two-goal cushion to begin with," Stock said. "I think after we scored two goals then we sat back a little bit rather than continuing to pressure them."
Stock held the 2-0 lead for a long time, even through one extended Tigers' power play that lasted for the final 3:08 of the half, during which she stonewalled the Orange and Black with seven saves.
The barrage of shots finally got to Stock at 9:55 in the second period when Micol Martinelli collected a rebound of a shot that pulled Stock to her right and knocked it in to the other side of the net.
Princeton finally tied the game on a power play early in the third period. Brown missed out on several chances to ice the puck and get fresh legs onto the ice. Murphy said this was a crucial mistake because the Bears play an aggressive style of penalty killing that quickly tires players. At 1:45, Princeton's Annie Greenwood deflected a shot from the point up and past Stock into the back of the net.
Unlike it did the previous day, Brown did not collapse after losing the lead. It was the Bears who had the best chances down the stretch. Moore hit the post on one shot, while Surbey and Maggie Suprey '11 couldn't convert on breakaway chances as the clock wound down. Brown outshot Princeton 3-1 in the five-minute overtime, but could not seal the victory. Simply being able to hold onto the tie was encouraging to the Bears, after they endured tough loss the day before.
"It definitely helps me because in the Quinnipiac game, them coming back from behind was kind of devastating," Stock said. "I think it was definitely good for our team that we were able to hang on and get a point against Princeton."
Stock made 47 saves, her second-highest total of the season, to keep the Bears in a game in which they only produced 21 shots.
"I thought Stock's performance as usual was pretty strong," Murphy said. "She just proves every game that if we didn't have her we would be getting the score run up (on us)."
On the offensive side, Moore's strong weekend propelled her up the Brown record books. Her two goals and three assists give her 130 career points, passing Kim Insalaco '03, Jill Graat '00 and Becky Kellar '97 for eighth all-time.
This weekend the Bears will hit the road for a long trip to upstate New York against two tough opponents. Brown will face No. 9 Clarkson on Friday and No. 6 St. Lawrence on Saturday. The Bears have a slim chance of making the playoffs, but that does not mean they will pack it in.
"The kids aren't giving up," Murphy said. "They will get back, they will play defense, they will be selfless (and) they will block shots. We're a tough team. We might not be the most (successful) team, but I think we're one of the most persevering teams. That's what I'm the most proud of."
