The RPI Engineers seized control of a 1-0 game in the third period,
adding 3 goals in 8:24, and pinned a 4-0 shutout on the #11-ranked Brown
Bears at Meehan Auditorium tonight.

    After a scoreless opening period, Rensselaer converted a power play when
senior defenseman Scott Basiuk's shot from the top of the slot beat Bear
senior goaltender Yann Danis five-hole through a partial screen at 11:07.
Sophomore defenseman Brad Farynuk and junior forward Nick Economakos picked
up assists on the goal.

    With the score 1-0 going into the third period, the Engineers used both
speed and quickness to keep Brown off balance as they contested (and won
control of) practically every loose puck.  Meanwhile, the Bears could not
solve RPI goalie Nathan Marsters who turned aside all 30 shots he faced.
Clearly outplayed and outskated during the second half of the game, the
typically solid Brown defense was unable to adequately protect Danis from
the aggressive Engineer forwards and the Bears were outshot 20-8 in the
third period.

    Rensselaer padded its lead at 0:41 of the final stanza when sophomore
forward Kirk MacDonald took a pass from Farynuk, skated right to left across
the slot unmarked and unloaded a wrister that beat Danis cleanly to his
stick side.  Then, at 8:02, with Brown enjoying a man-advantage, MacDonald
outmaneuvered a Brown forward to gain control of a loose puck near the
defensive blue line and hooked up with senior forward Ben Barr on a 2-on-1
rush through neutral ice that ended with Barr slamming the puck past Danis
into the left side of the Brown net at 8:02.  The shorthanded goal was
perfectly executed and, with Marsters on his game in the RPI net, the Bears
seemed to sag at the prospect of recovering from a three-goal deficit, and
1:03 later senior forward Ryan Shields completed the convincing Engineer
victory as he combined with freshman forward Oren Eizenman and sophomore
forward Kevin Croxton to crash the Bear net and jam the puck past Danis from
the left side of the crease.

    The Brown defeat was but its 4th in the last 34 games played at Meehan
Auditorium and allowed four teams pursuing the first-place Bears to advance
to within 2-4 points away in the ECAC standings.  So, with four games
remaining in the regular season, the Bears face the always-demanding North
Country trip next weekend when they will face St. Lawrence (Fri.) and
Clarkson (Sat.) in what now have become crucial road contests as Brown seeks
to maintain its conference lead in the face of serious challengers.  The
Bears' overall record drops to 14-6-5 (12-4-2 ECAC) and their Ivy record
remains at 7-1-1 with one game to play against Dartmouth on February 27th at
Meehan.


Bill Corrigan

LET'S GO BRUNO!