Friday Night at Thompson Arena, Hanover, NH

    Brown dropped a 1-3 decision to Dartmouth in a game distinguished by the
Big Green's ability to completely disrupt in Bear offense for sixty minutes.
The final score really does not reflect the one-sided nature of the contest.
Brown coach Roger Grillo noted that the Bears "did not compete as hard" as
he expected,  but the Dartmouth team effort produced a lot of the Bears'
undoing.  Basically a one-goal game (2-1) from the seven-minute mark of the
second period (the 3rd Dartmouth tally was an open net tally with 30.5
seconds to go), much of the game was decided in neutral ice as the Big Green
constantly and effectively stalled the Brown forwards (and defensemen) as
they attempted to gain the offensive zone, and when they did set up in the
Dartmouth end, aggressive forechecking kept them off-balance and unable to
generate any quality shots.  Kudos to the entire Big Green squad for
carrying out their gameplan so effectively.

    The one bright spot for the Bears, as you may have surmised from the
narrow margin of Dartmouth's victory, was Brown senior goaler Yann Danis
whose 33 saves kept Bears in the game and gave them the chance to steal a
tie or victory.  But all that Brown could muster offensively was a 5x3 power
play slapper by senior defenseman and captain Scott Ford at 6:57 of the
second period which eluded Big Green goaltender Dan Yacey (23 saves).
Freshmen defenseman Dylan Row and freshman forward Brian Ihnacak each
collected an assist on the goal for their first point of the season.

    Meanwhile, on the Dartmouth side, junior Lee Stempniak scored a natural
hat trick.  At 8:23 of the first period, he scooped up a loose puck behind
the Brown goal line, circled around  teammate Mike Ouellett's pick on Bear
sophomore defenseman Adam Tischauer in the right circle, cruised into the
slot and fired a wrist shot under Danis' right arm.  Stempniak made it 2-0
on the power play at 4:55 of the middle stanza when he wrapped the rebound
of a point shot around Danis left pad.  Then with the Bears operating in
front of an empty net in an attempt to tie the game in the last minute of
play, Stempniak wristed a shot from the Brown blue line that provided the
clincher.


Saturday Night at Gutterson Field House, Burlington, VT

    In a close, hard-fought encounter, Brown fashioned a weekend split by
edging Vermont, 3-1.  This was a real dogfight as the Bear defensemen
battled all evening to contain the aggressive Catamount forwards who tested
Yann Danis throughout the game and forced a total of 24 saves.  The Bears
scored at 8:25 of the initial period when a Cat defenseman, attempting to
clear his defensive zone in the final seconds of a Brown power play, fired
the puck off a teammate's shin pad and saw it carom between the pads of his
goaltender, Scott Sortal.  Bear freshman forward Antonin Roux was credited
with the score.

    Vermont tied the game at 11:30 of the first on a beautiful goalmouth
redirection by Jeff Miles on a Scott Mifsud's feed to the slot.  Following a
scoreless middle stanza during which both teams seemed poised to notch the
go-ahead goal, the Bears' patient offense seized the opportunity it was
waiting for at 7:01 of the third period when Bear senior forward Mike Meech,
stationed on the right post, lofted the puck past Sortal's glove hand after
picking up a deflected point shot by Brown defenseman Dylan Row.  Senior
forward Brent Robinson scored his first goal of the season with 1:10
remaining to provide some late game insurance, with senior forward Nick
Ringstad and sophomore forward Joe Bauer earning assists on the tally to
post their first points of the season.

    Once again, goalie Yann Danis stood tall in the Brown net and carried
the team when it needed him (making 10 often-spectacular saves in the final
period to preserve the victory) as he earned his fourth straight win against
the Catamounts.


    All in all, a respectable showing on the weekend, particularly when one
considers that the Bears have had to play their first three conference games
on the road.  The Bears' hallmark continues to be its tenacity and
relentless defensive approach to the game.  The offense, which has been
functioning to date without last season's second leading scorer, junior
forward Les Haggett, will clearly be enhanced by his addition to the line-up
in the near future.  It is anticipated that Haggett's presence on a regular
shift and on the power play unit will move the Bears' into high gear and
provide Yann Danis with some breathing room in the Brown goal.  Meanwhile,
the Bears will savor their 2-1 conference start and continue to sharpen
their game as they prepare to host Yale (Fri.) and Princeton (Sat.) on the
home-opening weekend of ECAC play at Meehan Auditorium.


Bill Corrigan

LET'S GO BRUNO!