This past weekend, the women’s ice hockey team (16-10-2, 12-6-2 ECAC) mounted their final home effort of the regular season. Returning to Meehan Auditorium in high spirits following much-needed wins against the league’s lowest-ranked opponents, the Bears faced tougher challenges against No. 24 St. Lawrence (11-18-3, 8-11-1) and No. 12 Clarkson (19-10-3, 12-6-2).
Unfazed, Bruno soared to success on both days, winning 3-2 and 4-1 respectively. On Saturday’s Senior Day game against Clarkson, Bruno collected their season’s 16th win — earning their highest victory tally since the 2003-04 season.
“We knew that we needed this to be locked in for a first round home playoff game,” Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi told The Herald in a post-game interview after Friday’s game against St. Lawrence. “You also want to keep staying higher up in the ranks ... we want to keep getting better.”
The beginning of the game against St. Lawrence showcased the defensive strength of both sides. Though each side got some shots off in the opening 10 minutes, neither team penetrated the opponent’s defense in a meaningful way.
But, with just over five minutes left in the first period, it was the Saints that struck first. St. Lawrence forward Brooke Mulvihill skated through three Brown defenders and flicked the puck past Bruno goalkeeper Rory Edwards ’27.
Refusing to be left behind, Bruno wasted little time answering. Just two minutes later, India McDadi ’26 sent a bullet pass to Margot Norehad ’27, who was cutting across St. Lawrence’s crease. Immediately, Norehad redirected the puck into the goal to even the game as the final minutes of the period ticked down.
Though the Bears were threatening to take over the lead with their relentless onslaught of shots at the beginning of the second period, the momentum rapidly switched over to St. Lawrence. Following an unsuccessful Bruno power play, St. Lawrence managed 10 shots over the next five minutes, while Bruno had a mere two.
The Bears then found themselves on their second penalty kill of the period. Though the Saints got three more shots off, Bruno’s defense skillfully navigated their two minutes of penalty time.
“Anytime in a (penalty kill), you need good goaltending, and we had great goaltending from Rory (Edwards) today,” Ruzzi said.
Bruno broke through the dead heat with five minutes remaining in the period. From the left high slot, Monique Lyons ’28 sent a furious slap shot that clattered off the post and found the back of the net.
“We cycled the puck well” and Ava DeCoste ’27 “found me in the slot,” Lyons told The Herald in a post-game interview. “I just decided to rip it as fast I could, and I caught the goalie off guard.”
As the second period wound to a close, the Bears struck again. A slap shot from Isabella Gratzl ’29 found paydirt, giving Bruno a two-goal lead.
The first 12 minutes of the third period saw a return to the defensive on both ends of the ice, but off a faceoff at Brown’s end-zone circle, the Saints notched one into the back of the net. The puck glided to the high slot, where Megan Crowley sent a slap shot blazing by Edwards into Brown’s goal to make it 3-2 Bruno.
Energized by the prospect of tying the game, the Saints began attacking fervently, delivering seven more shots in the match’s final stretch. But more inspired play by Edwards and the defense ran the clock to zeroes, and Brown escaped with a victory.
In a post-game interview with The Herald, Edwards reflected on how she kept her mentality consistent during those final pressure-packed moments, focusing on “one puck at a time” and “owning the moment.”
The next day, Brown welcomed Clarkson onto the ice. As the Golden Knights were ranked No. 11 nationally at the time of Saturday’s matchup and had already dispatched the Bears earlier in the season, Bruno was surely the underdog. But Brown rose to the occasion.
One of the highest-scoring teams in the league, the Golden Knights came out of the gate firing a barrage of shots at Brown goaltender Anya Zupkofska ’28. But Zupofska held the shelling off, buying time for the Bears’ forwards to take shots of their own. Lyons took advantage of the moment with under seven minutes left in the period, sneaking the puck into the net from the low slot for her 14th goal of the season.
“I try to have fun, honestly,” Lyons told The Herald about her performance this season. “I try not to put too much pressure on myself, and the goals will come with hard work.”
But not to be dismissed easily, the Golden Knights demonstrated their offensive prowess and dropped the puck around Zupkofska into the net from the doorstep.
Though the game was tied heading into the second period, Bruno brought the heat and emerged from the period with a 2-goal advantage, largely on the back of Jade Iginla ’26, who was awarded ECAC forward of the week last week for her 5-point performance against Union and RPI.
The first of Iginla’s two goals came in the period’s opening minute. Skating up the ice’s left coast, Iginla flicked a shot from medium range that comfortably burrowed into the bottom right corner of the goal. This goal marked the 50th of Iginla’s career and made her the 14th player in Brown history to achieve this milestone.
During a power play six minutes later, Iginla settled at Clarkson’s left end-zone circle ready to turn 50 career goals into 51. Receiving a pass from Victoria Damiani ’28 in the center, Iginla wasted no time in sending a slap shot screaming past Clarkson goalie Holly Gruber to make it 3-1 Brown.
Instead of resting on their lead in the third period, Bruno kept up the pressure. Nine minutes into the period, Iginla played a key role in yet another goal. A shot by Iginla rebounded to DeCoste, who found a largely uncovered net and delivered the knockout blow, sending Brown cruising to a 4-1 victory.
The Bears will face an imposing road trip for the final weekend of the regular season when they take on Quinnipiac and Princeton, who are ranked No. 3 and No. 1 in the ECAC respectively.
Ruzzi stressed the cramped nature of the ECAC standings, saying, “every opponent is kind of fighting for their lives in terms of standings.”
“It’s playoff hockey, essentially,” she added.
Sajiv Mehta is a senior staff writer covering sports. He is from Scarsdale, New York and plans on concentrating in English and American Studies. In his free time, he can be found reading an encyclopedic novel or watching the Yankees.
