We Beat Harvard and We Beat Yale, and We Tied a Knot in the Tigers' (and Bobcats') Tail(s)

Results:
Brown 4, Princeton 1
Brown 3, Quinnipiac 3 (OT)

Highlights for both games can be found here.


At this rate, Brown might not have made its final trip to the state of New Jersey this season. 

If the Bears can continue to win by doing the little things right and fighting until the bitter end, they might find themselves on a bus to Atlantic City come March 21st for the ECAC semi-finals. 

Earlier in the season, Matt Lorito was the beginning and end of Brown's offense. However, in the past several weeks, the Bears have continued to play well without any significant contributions from Lorito whatsoever. Guys like Jeff Ryan, Garnet Hathaway, and Mark Naclerio continue to step up and find ways to will the team to fight tooth-and-nail for every point it can get. 



After a tough weekend in the Capital District, Bruno embarked on a roadtrip that has been just as unkind to it in recent years: Princeton and Quinnipiac. 

TD Bank Sports Center, typically a place where Brown dreams go
to die (most notably in the playoffs), proved to be not such a
deathtrap this time, as the Bears came back to tie the top-ranked
Bobcats. // Photo courtesy of StadiumsUSA.com

And the Bears emerged with three points, despite playing a team it had previously beaten twice (and therefore was out for revenge) and the nation's top-ranked team. 

Not too shabby. 

Brown took it to Princeton right away Friday night, outshooting the Tigers 11-5 in the first period and, more importantly, outscoring them 2-0. Anthony Borelli was seldom tested early, but as Princeton attempted to claw (cat pun) its way back into the game, he came up big and finished with 32 saves. 

The Bears once again minimized penalties, giving Princeton just one power play, which they failed to score on. The Tigers did not score until 17:06 into the third period, after Brown had iced the game with an empty-netter to make it 4-0. 

After an outstanding performance in New Jersey, Brown failed to impress Brendan Whittet in Hamden against the top-ranked Bobcats. 

But that doesn't mean they didn't achieve a phenomenal result. Despite not playing its 'A' game (in the words of Whittet himself), the Bears were able to claw (bear pun) their way back from a two-goal deficit late in the third period. 

This makes Brown one of two teams to earn two points from Quinnipiac in league play this season, the other being St. Lawrence, who shocked everybody by upsetting at the Bank last weekend. 

The Bears will now head home to face two teams from the bottom four of the league in Cornell and Colgate...who both happened to fare pretty well against the same Capital District duo of RPI and Union that rolled over Brown a week ago. So it goes without saying that there will be no gimmes this weekend, especially since both teams will be jockeying for playoff positioning. 

Cornell is just a point behind Brown for the (current) last first round home ice spot, while Colgate is three points back. A three-point (or better) weekend is imperative here, as Brown will be facing a team they could very well see in the first round. If the season ended today, the Big Red would be heading to Providence for a weekend-long date at Meehan Auditorium. 

Adam D'Alba, he former heir apparent
to Yann Danis, was Brown's goalie back in
 2005, the last time the Bears hosted a
playoff series. 

And since we're getting close to securing home ice, I think it's appropriate to reflect on the last time the Bears hosted a playoff series. It was way back in 2005, and the Bears swept RPI in a wild, goal-filled series. 

Game One saw Brown take one-goal leads four separate times, only to see the Engineers match each tally. With the game tied at four in the third period, Bryan McNary and Mike Meech opened the floodgates for the Bears, scoring a minute apart to give Brown a commanding two-goal lead with about seven minutes to go. An empty-netter sealed the 7-4 win. 

Game Two seemed to be a carbon copy of Game One, as the Bears held 1-0 and 2-1 leads, before seeing each one matched by the Engineers. RPI would take a 3-2 lead in the third period, but Gerry Burke tied it up just a 1:19 afterwards. An overtime winner from Chris Poli sent the Bears to Hamilton, NY, where they were systematically disassembled by Colgate in two games, and sent the Engineers back to Troy, where they began their offseason preparations. 

With that in mind, the Bears have plenty of work to do if they are to capture home ice. Two tough and desperate teams will be coming to Meehan Auditorium this weekend, and Brown had better be ready for both of them, or they'll find themselves traveling to Potsdam, or Ithaca, or Princeton, or Schenectady.