Turning in two low voltage performances, Brown captured third place in
the Subway Hockey Classic (Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, ND) by virtue of a
one-goal margin in the shootout that followed a 1-1 overtime tie with the
Findlay Oilers in the Sunday afternoon conso.  Freshman forward Brian
Ihnacak and senior forward Brent Robinson tallied the shootout goals for the
Bears.  Junior forward Chris Swon (from freshman forward Sean Dersch) had
given Brown an early 1-0 lead at 13:46 of the first period and the Oilers
knotted the score with a power play goal (5x3) at 19:44 of the opening
stanza.  The game officially goes into the books as a 1-1 tie as the
shootout format was used to determine tournament placing only.  It was Brown
hockey's first-ever participation in a shootout.  Both senior goaler Yann
Danis (two-game total of 50 saves) and Ihnacak (1 goal; 1 assist in the
tourney) were named to the all-tournament team.

    In the the Bears' first round game against Wayne State on Saturday,
Brown surrendered a one-goal lead in the waning moments of the third period
and lost when the Warriors scored the winning goal on their first offensive
rush at 1:40 of the overtime period.  After the Brent Robinson (from Brian
Ihnacak) and Wayne State's Dan Ilakis traded goals 51 seconds apart midway
thru the opening period, Ihnacak (from junior forward Les Haggett & senior
defenseman Vince Macri) gave the Bears a 2-1 lead with his power play goal
at 7:48 of the third frame.  But the Warriors forced overtime on a
goal-mouth deflection of a point shot at 19:35 of the final stanza after
they had pulled their goaltender for a sixth attacker.  The loss to Wayne
State extinguished Brown's hopes of meeting the #1 ranked North Dakota Sioux
for the tourney championship and matched them with the University of Findlay
in the 3rd place game.

    Brown, who entered the tournament ranked No. 12 nationally, is currently
in the midst of a power outage, having scored only four goals and earned but
a single point in the last three games.  Thus, the Bears must re-focus their
overall play if they are to protect and extend their hard-earned
ECAC-leading record (6-2-1) forged during the first portion of the season.

    With the next two weekends slated for conference action and the winter
academic break in effect, the Bears should be able to take advantage of
increased practice time to solve the scoring funk and get their game back on
track.  But the proof is in the doing as Brown makes ready for its annual
swing to the Capital District in upstate New York.  The Bears visit the
Rensselaer Engineers at Houston Field House on Friday, and then travel
across the Hudson to meet the Union Skating Dutchmen on Saturday at the
renovated Messa Rink in Achilles Center.


Bill Corrigan

LET'S GO BRUNO!