Three minutes into the second period of the women’s ice hockey team’s (14-10-2, 10-6-2 ECAC) game against Union (9-17-3, 2-15-1) on Friday, Brown found itself in a 2-0 deficit reminiscent of last week’s 4-0 collapse to RIT. But staring down a potential bleak defeat at the hands of the Garnet Chargers, who are ranked last place in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, the Bears roared back.
Bruno utterly overpowered their opponents over the rest of the game, scoring seven goals to Union’s one. The next day, the team traveled to nearby Troy, New York, where Brown blanked Rensselaer (6-24-0, 3-15-0) in a 4-0 victory. The dominant weekend propelled the Bears to No. 5 in the conference.
“On Friday, I think we showed some swagger in that we went down by 2 but never got rattled,” Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi wrote in an email to The Herald. “The team scored five unanswered goals ... that type of belief in each other and our preparation is critically important at this stage of the season.”
Union forward Maddie Leaney dominated the opening stages of Friday’s contest. During a two-on-one breakaway in the first period, Leaney flicked the puck across the crease into the top-right corner of the net. On a power play and all alone with Brown goaltender Rory Edwards ’27 at the beginning of the following period, the star attacker backhanded the puck homeward to create a two-goal lead.
But less than a minute later, Brown captain Jade Iginla ’26 stole the spotlight. Handling the puck all the way from Bruno’s defensive zone, Iginla weaved through Garnet Chargers to the high slot. Flashing her wrist almost imperceptibly, she sent the puck searing across the ice and under Union goalie Emily Evans for a crucial power play score.
“Jade just decided enough was enough,” Ruzzi wrote. “She flipped a switch ... the team followed her lead, and we got rolling from there.”
Intent on evening the score at two goals apiece, fellow captain India McDadi ’26 rushed up the left of the rink and leveled a wrist shot on goal. Bouncing off a sliding Union defender’s skate, the puck tumbled into the net.
Not only was the offense sparked by Iginla’s score, but the defense was revitalized as well. After allowing a short-handed goal with seven minutes left in the period, the defense allowed only thirteen more shots. Edwards served as a staunch goal-protector, keeping each of the Garnet Chargers’ 11 on-target attempts from crossing the goal line.
Edward’s key adjustment after the early lapses was to “simplify,” she wrote in an email to The Herald. “My self-talk was all about keeping my movements clean, trusting my reads and tracking pucks all the way to my hands,” Edwards added.
As they entered the final third of the period, the Bears’ attack increased their pressure. Flying down the rink, defender Victoria Damiani ’28 gathered momentum before effortlessly sending the puck past Evans and matching the Garnet Chargers’ total of three goals.
After drawing a power play two minutes later, defender Isabella Gratzl ’29 sent a stretch pass from Bruno’s left end zone circle to forward Monique Lyons ’28, who had snuck past Union’s defensive line. Finding herself alone with the Union goaltender, Lyons shot the puck inside the right post and collected Bruno’s first lead of the evening.
When Bruno earned a third power play a minute and a half later, they took the opportunity to demonstrate their superior puck movement. Having already successfully taken advantage of two power plays, a score became the standard.
From the center of the rink, Gratzl dished the puck to Lyons at Union’s left face-off circle. Taking just half a beat to collect, Lyons delivered a precise pass to the low slot, where forward Olivia Fantino ’28 redirected the puck into the net.
Heading into the final period, the Bears had established themselves as firmly in command, with a 5-3 edge over the Garnet Chargers. Their success had a snowballing quality, and finding the back of the net seemed like an inevitable conclusion to the Brown attackers’ shots.
With 16 minutes left, McDadi found forward Margot Norehad ’27 on the right edge of the crease, magically sending the puck through a cage of three defenders’ sticks. Immediately, Norehad flipped the puck upwards and into the net’s ceiling.
Strengthening their lead, the Bears scored once more six minutes later. From a sharp right angle, forward Martina Accardi ’29 sent a shot at the Union goal. The puck ricocheted off Evan’s leg pad into the doorstep, and forward Zoe Li ’29 pounced.
Li’s goal — her second of the year — guaranteed Brown’s highest single-game goal tally this season. Li became the seventh player to score that day. Undoubtedly, the Bears’ team chemistry was on full display.
Saturday’s shutout of Rensselaer featured more of Brown’s high-quality hockey. From the opening puck drop, it was all Bruno.
Just over five minutes into the competition, Lyons sent the puck towards Iginla, which found its way across the goal line and gave the Bears a lead they never relinquished.
On a power play with six minutes remaining in the first period, Iginla broke through the Engineers’ defense again, sending an astoundingly accurate long-range screamer past all four RPI defenders and into the goal.
From there, the Bears knuckled down and held onto their advantage, relying on their defensive play.
Edwards credited Brown’s wingers and defense in holding the Engineers without a goal, adding that they recorded “some huge blocked shots.”
The match’s slower pace extended into the second and third periods, and the game’s next goal was scored with less than six minutes remaining in the contest.
While shorthanded on a penalty kill, Lyons and Ella Muralt ’28 created a two-on-two rush. Furiously skating towards the Rensselaer net, Lyons sent a wrist shot directly at RPI goalie Reese Keating. Though Keating managed to block Lyons’ attempt, Muralt closed in and finished the job on the rebound, effectively securing the victory for the Bears.
An empty-net goal by McDadi in the match’s final minute sent the official tally to 4-0
The Bears will need to continue to bring an inspired level of play when they host St. Lawrence and No. 2 Clarkson this weekend at Meehan Auditorium.
“The talent on those two teams is deeper than what we faced this weekend,” Ruzzi wrote. “Clarkson, in particular, is a team that knows how to play in tightly contested games and will make us work for our offensive opportunities.”
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.
