Brown Coach Roger Grillo's system was a bit tardy in grabbing hold, but
since the overtime victory over Dartmouth at Meehan Auditorium during the
first week in January, the Bears' commitment to his style of play has
turned the proverbial corner and produced a glittering 7-1-1 conference
record.
 
        With their only conference loss coming in a narrow 3-1 loss (open net goal
in final minute)  to league-leading Yale at Ingalls Rink two weeks ago, the
latest evidence that Brown has graduated to a  superior level of
performance was the 6-2 drubbing of the Colgate Red Raiders at Meehan last
Saturday.  In addition to Captain Damian Prescott's 19th and 20th goals of
the season (Prescott has now matched his 20-goal milestone of last season
and stands at 20-12-32), the Brown defense and sophomore goaler Scott
Stirling, in particular (32 saves for his sixth win in his last seven
starts), continue to come up big against teams which had the upper hand
during the first portion of the schedule.  With the defeat of Colgate, the
Bears extracted a full measure of revenge for the road defeats suffered on
the league's first weekend in Hamilton and Ithaca when Brown surrendered
3-1 leads in each game and lost both contests in regulation.  And certainly
not lost in this wave of success has been the impact of Harvard transfer,
Mike Bent.  The sophomore forward became eligible during the holiday break
in December and has been a major factor in the Bear rennaissance with
6-5-11 in 14 games played.
 
        So now, the Bears are eyeing not merely an ECAC playoff berth but a home
ice position in the quarterfinal round.  Currently tied with Cornell for
the fifth and final home ice spot, Brown is but one point behind Colgate in
fourth and two points in back of third-place RPI.  The obstacles ahead for
further progress are substantial.  Second place Clarkson will visit Meehan
this Friday followed by St. Lawrence for the last regular season home game
on Saturday.  The Bears then spend the final conference weekend on the road
in Hanover and Burlington as they battle the Big Green in a rematch with
former Brown Coach Bob Gaudet at Dartmouth, and the Catamounts in Coach
Roger Grillo's first return to Gutterson Field House.
 
        Coach Roger Grillo observed: "The guys are working hard and playing with
real good discipline, which is all anybody can ask.  Their effort is
beginning to pay off.  You want to be playing your best hockey late in the
season, and we are.  Hopefully, we'll keep improving as we go."
 
 
Bill Corrigan
 
LET'S GO BRUNO!
 
             1997-98 SEASON
BROWN HOCKEY CENTENNIAL
 
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