The women’s hockey team (3-3-0, 2-2-0 ECAC) swept two games at Meehan Auditorium over the weekend, dominating Dartmouth (2-3-1, 1-3-1 ECAC) by a final of 7-1 Friday night and besting Harvard (0-5-0, 0-5-0 ECAC) 2-1 Saturday evening.
“The two games were sources of pride in very different ways,” Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics.
“Friday’s contest was a display of clean execution as a team from start to finish,” she wrote. “Saturday’s game wasn't nearly as well executed, but equally important to find a way to win in a game that wasn't going our way.”
In Friday’s trouncing, the Bears got off to a fast start, scoring four goals in nine minutes during the first period. Jade Iginla ’26 was the first to get the Bears on the board. Cassidy Piersiak ’24 later recorded the first goal of her collegiate career, alongside first-years Margot Norehad ’27 and Sam Broz ’27.
Overall, the Bears recorded 27 shots on goal while limiting the Big Green to 15, with goalie Kaley Doyle saving all but one.
“We wanted to get to Dartmouth early, build a lead and play our game,” Ruzzi wrote.
“After being shut out the previous weekend, it was important that we prove to ourselves that we can put pucks in the net, and we did that,” she added. “The most impressive element of that game was the unselfish nature of the offense.”
On Saturday, the Bears and Crimson held each other scoreless through the first period before each team struck in the second, with Anna Shelden ’24.5 scoring Bruno’s goal on a power play. The score remained locked at one apiece until Doyle allowed a single Harvard success in 19 on-goal chances.
With just under six minutes on the clock, India McDadi ’26 flipped the puck into the top of the net to provide the game-winning shot. It was her third goal of the weekend.
“Going into the weekend, I found a new level of confidence, which I think was a huge factor in my performance,” McDadi wrote. “The energy and positivity surrounding the team, too, was very important … I don’t think the scoring would have been possible without my teammates and their high level (competition) and play.”
After dropping the first two games of ECAC play the weekend prior on the road against Quinnipiac University and Princeton, the Bears were able to bring their conference record back to .500 and regain momentum as the season ramps up.
“After last weekend, we went straight back to the drawing (board),” McDadi wrote. “We knew what we had to work on, and held ourselves to it all week in practice.”
“We definitely reclaimed momentum and confidence,” she added. “We are just getting started and it’s nice to see the pieces come together.”
October league games have the “same importance as those in February in terms of standings,” according to Ruzzi.
“The team knows that the regular season is all about playoff position, and each game is an opportunity to solidify our identity and build chemistry,” she wrote. “Wins are a source of confidence, but how we execute on the weekend carries even more significance than the outcome.”
The team’s next competition will come this weekend, on a New York road trip pitting them against Colgate University and Cornell.
“This weekend’s match-ups will be another good test for our team,” McDadi wrote.
“The ECAC is a deep league, and both Colgate and Cornell are teams in the top 10 nationally,” Ruzzi wrote. “To win in this league, we need to continuously be fast learners and play to our identity.”
Linus is a sports editor from New York City. He is a junior concentrating in English, and when he's out of The Herald office you can find him rooting for the Mets, watching Star Wars or listening to The Beach Boys.
