In a close three-game series over the weekend, women’s ice hockey (18-14-2, 12-8-2 ECAC) ended their season with a loss to No. 3 Quinnipiac (26-8-3, 14-6-2 ECAC) in the ECAC quarterfinals. After dropping their first game 6-3, the Bears rallied to a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday. But on Sunday, Quinnipiac stormed back to clinch the semifinals slot with a narrow 5-4 win over the No. 7 Bears.
The team ended their season with 18 wins, their most wins in 23 years, Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi wrote in an email to The Herald.
“This team deserved a different outcome given how resilient the women have been through so much adversity and the class with which they have represented Brown,” Ruzzi wrote. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team and just as sad to see the season come to an end.”
The Bears entered their first game hot off a 7-2 opening round victory against No. 10 seed Dartmouth last weekend. On Friday, Brown began their weekend-long battle against Quinnipiac.
The two teams exchanged points throughout the three periods with Brown outshooting Quinnipiac 40-29. Forward Margot Norehad ’27 scored twice and forward Jade Iginla ’26 once to bring the Bears’ goal count to three. But the Bobcats doubled Bruno points, finding the back of the net six times, marking the highest number of goals Brown had given up in a single game all season.
On Saturday, the Bears returned to the ice hungry to force the series into a deciding third game. With two minutes left in the first period, Iginla scored the first goal of the game on an impressive end-to-end rush.
But in the second period, Quinnipiac struck back with a goal in the eighth minute to even the score 1-1. Seven minutes later, Norehad raced down the middle of the ice and sent the puck high into the net to push the Bears to 2-1.
The Bobcats notched another goal on a power play in the third period, forcing the game to overtime at 2-2.
Four minutes into overtime, forward Sam Broz ’27 sent a pass from the left side to Norehad, who was centered on the goal. Still racing down the ice, Norehad buried a quick goal — her fourth of the weekend — to clinch the game and send the weekend to a decider.
Forward Monique Lyons ’28 said that the team “learned a lot” from the first game. “We focused on keeping pucks in front of us and not allowing any easy entries,” she wrote.
Goalkeeper Anya Zupkofska ’28, who recorded a remarkable 49 saves to keep the Bears ahead throughout the game, also deserves much of the credit for the win.
“After the first game, we gave the team some details that would lead to a tighter checking defensive game,” Ruzzi wrote. “We have a lot of speed in our forward group and skill to convert turnovers into grade-A scoring chances.”
Going into Sunday afternoon’s decider, it was anybody’s game.
Quinnipiac jumped to an early lead with two goals in the first seven minutes. But Brown struck back in the ninth minute when Lyons launched a sharp goal from the right side on the power play to narrow Quinnipiac’s lead to 2-1.
The battle continued in the second period. Just before the nine-minute mark, the Bobcats’ forward Kahlen Lamarche got ahead of the Bears’ defense to go one on one against Brown’s goalkeeper. Despite her team being down a player, she sealed an impressive goal.
Two minutes later, defender Isabella Gratzl ’29 passed from the left side to forward Olivia Fantino ’28, who sent the puck to Broz in front of the goal. Broz then snuck the puck to the right of the Bobcats’ goalie to bring the score to 3-2. But Lamarche struck back just moments later to restore the Bobcat’s two point lead.
Quinnipiac pulled even further ahead with a third goal from Lamarche at the beginning of the third period.
But even with a three goal deficit and just 11 minutes left, the Bears refused to back down. Around three minutes later, Brown capitalized on a power play. After three near shots, Lyons sent a long pass to Iginla, who was perfectly placed in front of the net to seal the goal with a rapid shot.
Around five minutes later, forward India McDadi ’26 launched a stunning high backhand shot that narrowed the deficit to just one goal.
The Bears used this momentum to propel them in the final minutes, outshooting the Bobcats 9-1. But Quinnipiac’s early lead proved insurmountable, and the game finished at 5-4, ending the Bears’ championship hopes.
“We outshot our opponent and did a great job on the faceoff dot, but ultimately we failed to shut down their elite scorer,” Ruzzi wrote.
“I am proud of the team’s performance, continued effort and battle we gave Quinnipiac,” Lyons wrote. “We never gave up and continued to battle our way into the game.”
Ruzzi credits the team’s seniors with establishing a team culture that she hopes will continue next season.
“The leadership of our seniors and the culture they established this year was perhaps the best I have ever coached,” she wrote. “Looking ahead, we will be looking for women to carry that culture forward in order to be in the position to compete at the top of the ECAC.”
