#13 Brown defeated Harvard, 2-1, this afternoon in a crucial ECAC and
Ivy League clash at Meehan Auditorium.  The winning goal was scored 31
seconds into the five-minute overtime session and dealt the Crimson a
crushing loss as the conference stretch run got underway.

    Harvard took an early lead at 6:04 of the opening period when freshman
forward Kevin Du tallied a power play goal by deflecting junior forward
Brendan Bernakevitch's slapper from the right dot past Bear senior
goaltender Yann Danis.  Danis appeared to be partially screened on the play,
but Harvard had maintained possession of the puck in the Brown zone for over
a minute and a half prior to the score as the Bears failed to manage a
clearance/icing while shorthanded.  The Crimson goal came with but 3 seconds
remaining on their man-advantage.  For much of the first two periods,
Harvard did an excellent job of clogging the Bear passing lanes, continually
breaking up potential offensive opportunities by gaining possession of loose
pucks and intercepting breakout attempts.

    Brown evened the score on a power play goal by senior defenseman Vince
Macri when he unloaded a wrist shot from the right point that caromed off
Harvard junior goalie Dov Grumet-Morris' right pad and into the left corner
of the net at 13:01 of the middle stanza.  After the tying goal, the Bears
began to generate more scoring opportunities and the contest seemed destined
to be settled by the play of the respective goaltenders.

    The 1-1 game remained deadlocked through the balance of regulation and
was decided on an overtime faceoff in the Harvard end.  Brown senior forward
Nick Ringstad won the draw and scooped the puck back to freshman forward
Sean Dersch at the top of the left faceoff circle who then fired a shot on
net that Grumet-Morris saved with his right pad but allowed a rebound out in
the near slot.  Meanwhile, Ringstad left the faceoff dot and headed for the
goalmouth where he corraled the loose puck and backhanded it into the right
corner before Grumet-Morris could move to cover.

    Hobey Baker candidate Danis turned in a workmanlike 37-save performance,
and Grumet-Morris was equally impressive in making 25 saves during the
contest.  The game was well-played and both teams battled evenly throughout;
but in the end, a clean draw by Brown and an ill-timed rebound from Harvard
spelled the difference.

        The Bears' victory completed their first sweep of a home-and-home
hockey series with Harvard in 25 seasons.  In 1978-79, the Crimson played
their home schedule out of local Boston arenas while improvements to Donald
C. Watson Rink (re-named Alexander H. Bright Hockey Center upon completion
of the renovation) took place.  During that season, Brown edged Harvard,
2-1, at Meehan Auditorium, and later recorded a 7-3 decision in a game
played at Boston University's Walter A. Brown Skating Pavilion.

    Brown ups its league-leading ECAC record to 10-3-1 (12-5-4 overall) and
stays barely ahead of a closely-bunched pack of four other teams all vying
for a seeded ice position in the ECAC Championship Tournament.   Next up for
the Bears is a road weekend at Princeton (Fri.) and Yale (Sat.) which should
provide a stern test as they seek to maintain the momentum of their most
recent three-game winning streak.

    Brown's next ice hockey victory will be the 700th all-time for the
school that posted its first triumph in 1898, a 6-0 shutout of Harvard at
Franklin Park in Dorchester, MA.


SCORING:
Brown       0  1  0  1  =  2
Harvard     1  0  0  0  =  1

PENALTIES:
Brown       5/10 min.
Harvard     8/16 min.

POWER PLAYS:
Brown       1/7
Harvard     1/3

SAVES:
Danis (Brown)       13  13  11  0  = 37
Grumet-Morris (Harvard)     8  6  9  2  =  25


Bill Corrigan

LET'S GO BRUNO!