The men's hockey team (0-6-2, 0-3-2 ECAC) couldn't pick up its first win of the season in its contests against Yale and UConn last week.
The Bears dropped their game against Yale (6-2-0, 3-1-0), 4-3, on Tuesday night after Bulldog Jimmy Martin put a slap shot in the bottom left corner of the net with less than five minutes remaining. The UConn game was more one-sided, as the Huskies (4-9-0) scored the game's first three goals and ended ahead, 4-1.
The Bears started well on Tuesday night, picking up where they left off from the previous week, when they tied Harvard, 3-3. Assistant Captain Matt Vokes '09 - who put in the game-tying goal against Harvard on the previous Tuesday - received a pass at the top of the left faceoff circle from Jeff Buvinow '12. Vokes's slow wrist shot managed to beat Yale goalie Alec Richards to give the Bears a 1-0 lead at 10:46 in the first period.
The Bulldogs went on the power play after Matt Palmer '09 was whistled for a two-minute holding penalty at 18:26. As the final seconds ticked down in the first period, goalie Dan Rosen '10 blocked a shot from in front of the net, but failed to secure the puck. The puck deflected into the air, above Rosen's head, and when it came down, Sean Backman of Yale slapped it past Rosen to even the score, 1-1, at the end of the first period.
Brown got an opportunity under seven minutes into the second period after Eric Slais '09 forced a Yale turnover. Vokes collected the puck and took it down the left side of the ice. Slais charged down on the right, and a Bulldog defender split the two Bears. Vokes faked a pass to Slais, causing the defender to slip. Vokes then sent the puck to Slais, who put a one-timer behind Richards.
"I was looking for Slais all the way because he has got great finishes," Vokes said.
Yale came charging back at the end of the second period. A collision at 10:18 caused the referees to send Bobby Farnham '12 to the penalty box for interference in a questionable call. Head Coach Roger Grillo yelled out, "Are you kidding me?" and the rest of the Brown bench looked angered by the call as well.
The Bulldogs capitalized on the one-man advantage a minute and a half later when Yale's Kevin Peel fired a shot from the left face-off circle. Rosen deflected the puck to his right, but left a half-empty net. Yale's Nick Jaskowiak got to the puck first, and scored on the half-open goal, tying the game, 2-2.
The Bulldogs' momentum continued when they got another power-play opportunity, after a referee cited Mike Stuart '09 for interference with under two minutes left in the period. As the final seconds ticked away in the second period, Denny Kearny of Yale passed the puck to Backman at the point. Backman wound up for a slap shot that beat Rosen, earning Backman his second goal of the game and giving Yale its first lead, 3-2.
Yale scored each of its first three goals while on the power play.
"We're killing a period a game," said Assistant Captain Aaron Volpatti '10, referring to the need for so much penalty killing. "There's no secret to why we're losing. They got three power-play goals."
Brown looked to be in trouble again when referees sent Sean McMonagle '10 to the penalty box for two minutes for cross checking at 13:13. At one point during the power play, play stopped, and Volpatti lined up for the faceoff.
"We were on the (penalty) kill, so coach just told me to take a shot on the draw," Volpatti said. When the puck dropped, Volpatti directed it to the goal, and the shot beat Richard, tying the game, 3-3, with just under six minutes left in the third period.
But the tie was short lived. As McMonagle skated back onto the ice after his two-minute cross-checking penalty expired, Martin took a slap shot from just inside of the blue line. The puck bounced off of Rosen's right leg and deflected into the back of the net for what would turn out to be the game-winning goal.
Grillo called a timeout with 1:31 remaining in the final period. "I was just trying to get them to regroup and get them ready to go for when we pulled the goalie," Grillo said.
But before Rosen left the net, a fight broke out which sent Vokes and Yale's Chris Cahill to the penalty box. Brian O'Neill of Yale received a five-minute major for hitting from behind and a 10-minute game misconduct penalty.
But Bruno couldn't take advantage of the four-on-three opportunity. Rosen left the net with just 35 seconds remaining, giving the Bears a five-on-three attacker advantage. But it wasn't enough, and the final seconds ticked away with Yale ahead, 4-3.
Grillo wasn't disappointed with the effort. But he added, "We've got to clean up some areas and one of them is taking penalties."
The Bears stayed away from the penalty box in their next game, giving up only four power-play opportunities. The penalty kill unit defeated all four, but that wasn't enough to stop UConn from claiming its first-ever victory over Brown, 4-1.
The Huskies got on the board first when Bobby Reiners wound up from the top of the right face-off circle and shot the puck between the legs of goalie Mike Clemente '12, who made his debut in goal for the Bears on Saturday.
The game got away from Brown early as UConn's Marcello Ranallo deflected a pass from Jason Krispel past Clemente. Krispel added a goal of his own 3:44 into the second period, to give the Huskies the 3-0 advantage.
The Bears' lone goal came 11:04 into the third period. Mike Griffin '12 recorded his first career point when he sent a pass to Volpatti, who shot a onetimer into the back of the net.
Down 3-1 with 1:15 left, the Bears pulled Clemente in exchange for an extra attacker. But the extra man didn't help, and Michael Coppola of UConn scored on the empty net with just 25 seconds left, making the final score 4-1.
The Bears search for their first win when they face Union (6-4-1, 1-3-0) Friday night at Meehan Auditorium at 7:07 p.m.
