Brown's special teams were the story this weekend as the Bears'
second-ranked power play unit scored three goals in 11 man-advantage
opportunities, and their #1-ranked penalty-kill combination survived all 15
short-handed situations they faced during their away games at Rensselaer and
Union.  Brown currently boasts a 28.6 power play percentage (20/70) and are
killing 92.9% of their opponent's chances with the extra man (65/70).  The
Bears' combined special teams are leading the nation at a 60.7% success
ratio (85/140).

    In Friday night's defensive battle at the Houston Field House, the
Bears' senior center Nick Ringstad took a perfect feed from junior forward
Les Haggett and chipped a power play goal over RPI goalie Nathan Marsters'
glove with 6:44 remaining in the game.  The tally snapped a scoreless tie
and gave Brown its first road victory over the Engineers since 1996.  Bear
senior goaltender Yann Danis made 30 saves to hold Brown in the game and
chalked up his 12th career shutout to move his all-time Brown record up one
more notch.

    On Saturday, Brown regained the aggressive edge that had been missing
during the past four games and took the play to the Union Skating Dutchmen
right from the outset.  The Bears scored two power play goals in the first
period when freshman forward Brian Ihnacak fired home the rebound of senior
forward Brent Robinson's shot at 7:14 (senior defenseman Vince Macri was
also credited with an assist), and then Robinson got the second one at 17:38
during a two-man advantage with assists from Ihnacak and senior defenseman
Scott Ford.

    Junior forward Mike Meech made the score 3-0 at 5:06 of the middle
stanza when he skated from behind the Union net and slipped a backhander
past Dutchman goaltender Kris Mayotte.  Robinson and Haggett collected
assists on the play.  Union responded with a goal at 9:40 to spoil Danis'
weekend shutout skein, but Brown sophomore forward Cory Caouette sealed the
verdict with 23.3 seconds remaining in the second period when his shot hit
the left post, caromed off Mayotte's skate, and trickled over the goal line.
Haggett picked up his second assist and Robinson garnered his third assist
of the game.  Yann Danis, the nation's leading goaltender (1.42 goals
against average; .954 save percentage), stopped 30 Dutchman shots for a
weekend total of 60 saves.

    After completing one-half of their regular season conference schedule,
the first-place Bears now stand at 8-2-1 (ECAC) and 8-3-3 (overall) as they
await the arrival of Colgate (Fri) & Cornell (Sat) for a huge weekend of
hockey at Meehan Auditorium.  Brown will be seeking redemption after the
Raiders handed the Bears their most lopsided defeat (1-6) of the season at
Starr Arena in early December following a Big Red comeback the evening
before which resulted in a 3-3 overtime deadlock at Lynah on the same road
trip.


Bill Corrigan

LET'S GO BRUNO!