I've been reading the Big Red posts with regard to the Brown-Cornell
barnburner last Saturday evening at Lynah and I thought I would weigh in
with some comments about what went on during the infamous last three
minutes of regulation....from a Bear perspective and an ideal vantage point
above the Cornell offensive zone.
 
        Seated in my accustomed visitor's row in section O (opposite the Cornell
Band and on the goal line extended), Brown forward John DiRenzo's goal at
13:40 of the third period appeared to assure the Bears of a hard-earned
victory in perhaps the most intimidating and exciting rink in the ECAC
(sorry Cats, but I've also been to Gutterson many times, and that's the way
it seems - see you in March).  And even when Ryan Monihan's goal drew the
Big Red to within one at 15:59, it still seemed likely that the Bears would
escape with a win, for they had played patient and controlled hockey for
the previous 56 minutes and seemed secure in their ability to thwart the
Big Red offense.
 
        But following a stoppage in play in the Brown defensive zone at 18:35,
Cornell called a time out and came back to the ensuing face-off with
goaltender Jason Elliott on the bench in favor of a sixth attacker.  As the
teams set up for the face-off, a line of Brown and Cornell players were
positioned horizontally from the edge of the left face-off circle across
the slot in front of Bear goaltender, Jeff Holowaty.  When the puck was
dropped, Cornell won the draw, and each of the Big Red players adjacent to
a Brown player clamped down and froze (held?) their respective men in place
while the extra Cornell player, defenseman Jason Dailey, scooped up the
puck near the left point, and using the eight stationary players (the Brown
face-off man had been tackled to the ice by his counterpart by that time)
as a screen, skated left to right across the slot to the edge of the human
barrier and fired the puck into the right corner of the net between
Holowaty's left pad and the post before the goaltender could pick up the
location of the puck.  Score:  3-3.
 
        Then, after the ensuing neutral ice face-off, with Lynah in a state of
absolute bedlam, Cornell's Kyle Knopp gained control of the puck in center
ice, skated to the right point and let go a rising shot which seemed
destined to go over the Brown net but hit a defenseman's pad and caromed
down into the net at a sharp angle past the startled Holowaty who could not
have anticipated the deflection in time to make his 43rd save of  the game.
Final score: 4-3, in regulation.  Excruciating!
 
        If you graded the Cornell team on execution in those final three minutes,
their 6-on-5 face-off goal which tied the game was accomplished in classic
textbook style.  Their winning goal at 18:58 was somewhat lucky by virtue
of the re-direction, but the fact was that they had the shot to take, and
Brown did not.
 
        Clearly, this was a victory for the Lynah Faithful as much as for their
beloved Big Red icers.  All 3,840 were on their feet and cheering from the
moment they found a glimmer of hope with Moynihan's goal at 15:59 (an eerie
silence had prevailed following Brown's third goal), achieved a new decibel
plateau when Cornell came away from their bench after the time out, and
finally reached a crescendo with the tying and winning goals scored 20
seconds apart.
 
        So what of the Bears?  Certainly not taking any points home from their
first weekend of ECAC action was a disappointment when it looked as if they
had pulled off a major early season upset in their second conference game.
But having played no opponent in a regulation contest before making their
season-opening road trip to Colgate and Cornell, Coach Grillo's first team
proved it could play with two of the stronger teams in the conference,
leading Colgate 3-0 and Cornell 3-1 before surrendering the leads to teams
which had already played 4 and 3 games, respectively, at that juncture.  It
should be an interesting campaign from here on out, as Brown gains more
experience in protecting a lead rather than playing the catch-up game which
was often necessary over the prior two seasons.
 
        An outstanding performance from Bear goalers Jeff Holowaty (two-game total
of 76 saves) and Scott Stirling appears to be the key to early success as
senior captain Damian Prescott and senior defensemen D. J. Harding and
Jimmy Andersson bring a very talented group of freshmen along on a fast
track and the team begins to play Coach Grillo's system with confidence.
Indeed, with a legitimate scoring punch in evidence and only six Brown
penalties assessed in their first two games, this Bear team is playing
exciting, disciplined hockey and are already making a statement that they
may well be a team to be reckoned with in the weeks to come.
 
        Brown fans don't have to wait much longer for the home opener -- the Bears
will host the undefeated Yale Bulldogs this Friday and the Princeton Tigers
on Saturday at Meehan Auditorium.  Stay tuned.
 
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