Riding the momentum of four consecutive wins, the women’s ice hockey team (16-12-2, 12-8-2 ECAC) threatened to exceed underdog expectations against No. 7 Quinnipiac (24-7-3, 14-6-2) and No. 8 Princeton (21-8-0, 16-6-4). But as they embarked on their final trip of the regular season this past weekend, Bruno fell to the Bobcats 2-5 and to the Tigers 2-3 in overtime.
Despite Brown sliding from a tie with Clarkson for fourth in the final regular season ECAC standings to the No. 7 spot, this finish marks Bruno’s best since the 2005-06 season. In turn, the Bears secured a home matchup at the ECAC Tournament’s opening round against No. 10 seed Dartmouth this coming Saturday, Feb. 21.
The Friday night Quinnipiac game kicked off the weekend slate in an unfortunate manner. The Bears went down early against the Bobcats and were never able to amend the deficit.
“I can’t say for certain the reason for the slow start,” Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi wrote in an email to The Herald. “The first goal was a bad bounce. Ultimately, we can’t go through stretches of any game without focus.”
Quinnipiac’s first strike came less than four minutes into the game. Stealing the puck from a Brown defender, Bobcat forward Taylor Brueske created a breakaway and flicked the puck around Bruno goaltender Anya Zupkofska ’28 to make the score 1-0.
17 seconds later, the Bobcats scored again. Receiving a pass at the left point, Aynsley D’Ottavio launched a missile of a slap shot from long distance, catching Zupkofska off guard and doubling the Bobcats’ lead.
Showing no mercy, Quinnipiac put on a masterful performance of puck movement less than two minutes later. Forward Emerson Jarvis skated around the left end-zone circle into the high slot before dishing the puck to D’Ottavio, who flew downhill to the doorstep and snuck the puck over the goal line.
Now staring up at a three-goal climb, the Bears snapped back into shape. Less than four minutes after the concession, star forwards Monique Lyons ’28 and Jade Iginla ’26 slashed through the Bobcat defense. Riding off a pass from Iginla, Lyons sent the puck right back to the two-time ECAC Forward of the Week, who dumped it off into the net from the doorstep.
The barrage of scoring then slowed, and a steady fight over the scoreboard played out for the rest of the period. Each team fought valiantly for another tally, but were unable to convert until the Bears pulled through in the final minutes of the second period.
Having drawn a power play, forward Margot Norehad ’27 dispatched a whistling shot at the Bobcat goal. Though Quinnipiac goaltender Felicia Frank saved the attempt, the puck clattered loose in the crease, where Lyons cleaned up and scored.
“We simply flipped the switch and started playing Brown hockey,” Ruzzi reflected on the flow of the game. “Unfortunately, you cannot spot a top team three goals and play from behind and give yourself a good chance to win the game.”
Brown’s hopes of an astounding comeback did indeed fall away shortly — with just over eight minutes left in the game, Bobcat defender Zoe Uens flicked a silky wrist shot into the back of the net. An empty-netter in the closing minutes sent the final tally to 2-5 Quinnipiac.
But there was no time to dwell on the loss when a matchup with the Tigers loomed ahead. From the opening puck drop against Princeton, the Bears maintained their composure, which set the tone for a head-to-head contest.
Both teams kept up strong defense for much of the first period, until Princeton drew first blood. With under two minutes left in the period, the Tiger forwards demonstrated their passing prowess, patiently navigating the offensive zone before finding defender Rosie Klein in the high slot for a fluid wrist shot.
Unlike their loss in Connecticut the previous day, Brown refused to let their concessions compound against Princeton. The second period marked a return to a defensive battle in the first period as each side held score.
But the third period featured an excess of offensive excitement. Pouncing on an errant pass from a Princeton defender in the period’s second minute, Lyons found Iginla in the right end-zone circle, who fired the puck at Princeton goaltender Uma Corniea. Though the puck bounced off Corniea’s pad, it tumbled over the goal line and tied up the contest.
Six minutes later, Princeton answered back. From the right high slot, forward Issy Wunder delivered a furious slap shot that Brown goalie Rory Edwards ’27 simply could not block, making the score 1-2 Tigers.
After pulling Edwards, six Bears crowded the offensive zone with under 90 seconds to play. Amid the chaos, the puck rolled to forward India McDadi ’26, who slapped the shot into the net’s top-left corner for an exhilarating equalizer.
“When Jade (Iginla) slid (the puck) over to me, I knew right away it was a one-timer,” McDadi wrote in an email to The Herald. “The pass was perfect, which let me step into it and get a lot of power behind the shot. It was really a great team play all around.”
Having earned a trip to overtime and secured at least one point for the standings, Brown was seeking a sensational upset. Instead, Princeton sent Bruno home.
As the puck drifted over the blue line during a one-on-one rush between Wunder and defender Isabella Gratzl ’29, the two became entangled. In a physical race for the puck between the two, Gratzl fell to the ice, and Wunder thereafter had no problem maneuvering the puck past Edwards for the overtime winner.
“There was some frustration surrounding the no penalty call,” Edwards wrote in an email to the Herald. “But at the end of the day, it was a great play by Wunder to end the game.”
Despite the disappointment, Bruno will face a clean slate when Dartmouth comes to town for the playoff’s first round on Saturday at 3 p.m.
“Against Dartmouth, we need to play fast, get pucks deep when it’s there, and attack inside their structure,” McDadi remarked. “Playoff hockey isn’t always pretty.”
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.
