Disaster, Followed by Domination

Results:
Providence 7, Brown 0 (Mayor's Cup)
Brown 3, Holy Cross 2

What a crazy weekend at Meehan. After getting absolutely trampled in the third period against Providence, the Bears fought back from a two-goal deficit early on against Holy Cross and pulled out the win. 

Despite being outshot by just five (40-35), the Bears lost by a touchdown Saturday afternoon.  Brown looked shaky from the start, and Providence jumped out to an early lead on a goal from a mad scramble in front of Marco DeFilippo. Though Brown never seemed to be playing its best, it was still in the game in the middle of the second period, when a brawl broke out to the right of Providence's rookie goalie Jon Gillies. This was the breaking point for the Bears.

After receiving three roughing penalties on the play, including a ten-minute misconduct to Captain Dennis Robertson, Brown took a couple more trips to the sin bin due to some really undisciplined play. The Friars took full advantage, scoring two power play goals in the second period and never looking back. 

The Bears had three great opportunities early in the third period. A shot rang off the post as Gillies was caught out of his crease; a PC defenseman cleared a puck essentially off the goal line in the midst of a scrum in front of the net; and Gillies absolutely robbed Matt Lorito on a powerful one-timer. Had those three opportunities gone Brown's way, it could have been a tie game. 


However, nothing was going Brown's way Saturday afternoon, and the team crumbled after failing to convert on those chances. Providence came back and ran up the score, crushing any hopes for a comeback a deflated and frustrated Bruno team had. 

Garnet Hathaway '14 couldn't control his temper against
Providence, and wound up in the penalty box more often than not. 

Both teams played a rough, dirty, unpleasant game. Providence defenseman Myles Harvey was an absolute goon the entire game. Garnet Hathaway couldn't seem to control himself under any circumstances. Providence defensemen would shove and tackle any Brown player after Gillies froze the puck, even if the player was simply trying to skate towards his bench. Brown players couldn't control their frustration, and would start hacking at Friars players who skated by them. 

It was an ugly affair, and, as Brendan Whittet said, Brown got exactly what it deserved. It was outplayed, out-hustled, out-strategized, and out-toughed by a rugged and determined Friars squad that always seemed to be the better team. It didn't help that DeFilippo had probably the worst game of his career. 

DeFilippo looked out of position on nearly every shot. Had the Friars not missed the net a whole bunch, the score could have been even more skewed than it already was. The first goal was not his fault, but he certainly could have done a lot more on the second, third, fourth, and fifth goals (I left the game after the fifth goal was scored, so I don't know anything about the sixth or seventh goals). 

Following the Mayor's Cup debacle, the Bears were best suited to put the memories behind them. And they looked to do that early Sunday against Holy Cross, as they came out flying and dominated the game. However, the Crusaders were able to score a pair of opportunistic goals that backup netminder Anthony Borelli couldn't stop. 

Brown began the second period with a vengeance, and clawed its way back into the game just four minutes in, as Garnet Hathaway finished a nice passing sequence for his first goal of the season. Matt Lorito scored on another great passing play off the rush later in the period, and Mark Naclerio clinched the victory in the third with a one timer off a drop pass from Matt Harlow. 

The 3-2 result was not indicative of the play, as Brown probably played 80% of the game in the Crusader defensive end and outshot Holy Cross 54-23. Borelli was solid for the rest of the game, though he didn't have to do much because of the way the offense possessed the puck. 

All in all, the Bears were able to salvage would could have been a terrible weekend. They allowed nine consecutive goals before coming back to win on Sunday. My post on Friday, pleading with the team to make a statement and beat a pair of tough opponents certainly looks foolish now, as the Bears wildly underwhelmed against Providence and dominated Holy Cross, but only managed to win by a goal. 

We'll have to play much, much  better this coming Saturday against a Yale team that just knocked off both Denver and Colorado College on the road. DeFilippo needs to find some consistency, and the offense needs to take advantage of its many opportunities. Someone other than Matt Lorito needs to start scoring frequently, as well.