The men’s hockey lost to Princeton 6-3

The men’s hockey team (1-2, 1-2 ECAC) lost to Princeton (2-1, 2-0 ECAC) on Friday night in a 6-3 match. The Bears started the game with a sparking pace in the first episode before the wave of the Tigers second episode caused the game to reach.

Brown jumped in early lead with Brett Bliss 25 making his first goal of his career in power play just 52 seconds after the opening game. Assisted by Michael Maloney 22, with Samuli Niinisaari 23’s secondary pass, Bliss hit a shot from the top of the right circle that passed through the traffic and defeated Princeton’s defense and goalkeeper. The Bliss goal gave the Bears an early 1-0 advantage, which would be their only lead in the game.

Princeton equalized 2:34 after the first set of the match and sent the puck past Brown’s goalkeeper Luke Kania GS. Despite the goal, Kania remained flat with the Bears and ended the game with 22 fights. The Tigers defeated the Bears 47-16, making it difficult for the defense and Kanian to keep Bruno in the game.

Head coach Brendan Whittet mentioned that he is proud of Kanias ’goalkeeping efforts, especially given the difference in shot.

Rabbit was not our problem, Whittet said. We had to play much better in terms of effort and perseverance. It was something that was due a bit to our (defense) systems … We didn’t play (by standard) Brown’s hockey as a team.

The Tigers dominated the Bears in the second set and scored four goals, stunning Brown’s defense. After Brown’s goal-free second period, defender Luke Krys 23 reversed the situation in the third set and took the lead at Princeton with Brown’s second power game of the night. Justin Jallen 23 fed to Tristan Crozier 23, who sent the puck to Krys at the top of the spot to finish.

Krys explained that Brown’s loss had positive aspects. It’s a huge learning opportunity for the team to understand that we need to be prepared to play any other team as much as we play with the top five teams in the country, Krys said. It starts with leaders having to step up and we have to play as a unit.

Cole Quisenberry 23 reiterated a similar view, saying the Bears are ready for a clean start. This is a game we want to quickly leave behind and move on from there, Quisenberry said. It’s a good test for us to see how we react to the recovery from this game. Well, we need to show on the trough a lot more prepared and ready to go against our other opponents.

The Browns’ final goal came in with 35 seconds left in the match when Nathan Plessis 23 scored his second goal in two games and scored a one-off goal from Jake Harris’s 22 passes.

Brown had a quick turnaround in finishing the weekend as the Bears played against 6th Quinnipiac University on Saturday (7-1-2, 2-0 ECAC). Brown strengthened his defense against Quinnipiac, but fell to the Bobcats 1-0 after conceding a third set goal.

The Bears are away next weekend before a game at Cornell (3-1, 1-1 ECAC) on November 19 and a match at Colgate University (5-6, 0-2 ECAC) on November 20. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.