The men’s hockey team (3-7, 3-5 Eastern College Athletic Conference) earned two conference wins at home against Harvard (6-4-1, 5-2-1 ECAC) and Dartmouth (2-8, 2-5 ECAC) this weekend. The Bears defeated Harvard 2-0 Friday night in a contentious battle and beat Dartmouth 4-0 the following night. Brown’s win over Harvard, which came into the matchup ranked 17th in the country, marked the Bears’ biggest upset victory of the season thus far.
Brown 2, Harvard 0
The game was tied 0-0 through the first two periods, until team captain Tristan Crozier ’22 broke the deadlock in the final frame. Justin Jallen ’22 pushed the puck along the boards to Jackson Munro ’25, whose shot from the blue line was saved by Harvard’s goaltender. But Crozier rebounded Munro’s attempt and scored his first goal of the season, giving Brown a 1-0 lead 11:47 into the third period. The captain’s offensive prowess was a welcome return, as he had been sidelined due to injury since the third game of the season.
Harvard left its net empty in the final minutes of the third period, and Brown sealed its victory with a goal fired by Michael Maloney ’22 to put the Bears up 2-0 with 47 seconds left in the game.
Although Harvard led Brown in shots on goal 34-21, Brown’s defensive efforts, and particularly those of goaltender Mathieu Caron ’25, allowed the Bears to prevail. This was the first shutout of Coran’s career.
The Bears showed a marked improvement on defense compared to their effort in their matchup against Harvard earlier in the season. Brown’s win over Harvard Friday came after the Bears lost to the Crimson 5-2 on Nov. 23.
Jallen complimented his team’s defense Friday night. “Shutting out Harvard is a big step for us. They’ve got a lot of talented offensive players,” he said.
Head Coach Brendan Whittet ’94 also commended the achievement of keeping Harvard scoreless. “They’re an excellent team. They have probably nine or ten NHL draft choices,” Whittet said.
According to Whittet, by keeping the game tied going into the final period, the Bears put themselves in prime position to win the game. “We broke it down into a one-period game, and we found a way to win those 20 minutes,” Whittet said.
Brown 4, Dartmouth 0
Building on Friday night’s victory, Brown came out strong against Dartmouth, with Thomas Manty ’25 scoring off a centering pass from Jake Harris ’22 to give the Bears a 1-0 lead 6:46 into the first period.
Near the end of the first period, an audience member in the Meehan Auditorium had a medical emergency, forcing the game to pause as paramedics were called. Both teams went back to their respective locker rooms and warmed up for a second time before play resumed.
Despite the halt in momentum, Brown’s offense continued to thrive as Crozier scored his second goal in two games just 48 seconds into the second period. His goal was fired on a breakaway and assisted by Jallen.
Munro also found the back of the net 2:28 into the second period, scoring his first goal of the season off a rebounded shot by Nathan Plessis ’23 to give Brown a 3-0 lead.
Maloney added an empty-net goal with 3:18 remaining in the game, to make it 4-0 Brown.
Matthieu Caron’s second shutout against Dartmouth was the first time a Brown goaltender had earned two straight shutouts since 2012. The first-year’s performances, during which he notched a total of 62 saves, also earned him ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week honors.
“He’s an elite-level goaltender,” Whittet said of Caron. “He was excellent against Quinnipiac. He was very good against Cornell on the road, and those are two of the top five teams in the country.”
After his accomplishments over the weekend, Caron is focused on the games ahead. “(These wins) gave us the confidence that we needed that we can beat anyone. … We just have to get out there and do it,” he said.
“We’ve been looking to get back into the win column. … We’re just looking to build on this weekend and keep going before the break,” Caron said.
The Bears look to continue their momentum as they travel to Boston College Tuesday night and Yale Friday night.
