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After Six Straight on the Road, Bears Return Home to Host RPI and Union in a Pair of League Games
1/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
This Weekend: After six straight games on the
road, the Bears return to Meehan Auditorium this weekend to host
Rensselaer and #18 Union. The games are the first at Meehan since a
December 8th victory over AIC. Coming off a 3-2 win at Clarkson,
Brown will look to go back on a winning streak, after dropping the
five games prior to the contest against the Golden Knights. Sitting
in ninth place in the standings, and just four points behind a trio
of teams tied for sixth, there are four valuable league points up
for grabs. With a weekend sweep, the Bears would go from nine
points to 13 points, which could move them up into the middle of
the pack, depending on the results of the games involving Colgate,
Harvard, and RPI, which sit in a three-way tie for sixth.
Last Time Out: Brown posted a weekend split at St.
Lawrence (L, 5-2) and Clarkson (W, 3-2), while earning its first
victory in Potsdam since November 26th, 2004 and its first victory
over the Golden Knights since November 11th, 2005. Brown was led by
senior Sean McMonagle and junior Harry Zolnierczyk, who both had 2
goals and an assist, over the weekend. McMonagle notched his two
points in the win over Clarkson, scoring the game-winning goal,
while Zolnierczyk had his two points against the Saints. Sophomore
Jarred Smith also scored in the victory over Clarkson, while seven
other Bears had a point over the weekend, including senior Devin Timberlake, who stretched his pointscoring streak to seven games
with an assist each night. Senior Dan Rosen earned the start on
Friday night, stopping 29 shots in 48:33, while sophomore Mike Clemente stopped all five shots he faced in 8:59. Clemente started
the next night and made 25 saves on 27 shots in the win at
Clarkson.
Coming Up: The Bears remain home next weekend to
host ECAC and Ivy foes Harvard and Dartmouth. Saturday's game
against the Big Green will be played at 4:00 and will follow the
Bears' alumni game, which is scheduled for 12:00 noon. Fans
attending the game against the Big Green are encouraged to wear
WHITE, for the first-ever Winter Whiteout!
These Dates Historically Speaking: All-time, Brown
is 4-4-0 in games played on January 29th and 2-5-0 in games played
on January 30th. Brown is 0-1-0 in home games on the 29th and 0-4-0
in home games on the 30th. Brown and RPI have met one other time on
January 29th, with the Engineers claiming a 3-0 home victory in
1980.
Brown vs. Rensselaer: This weekend marks the 76th
meeting between Brown and RPI, with the Engineers leading the
all-time series, 50-18-7. After Brown won two straight games in the
2005 playoffs, RPI has swept Brown in three of the past four
seasons, including last year. No member of the current Brown team
has ever earned a win over the Engineers, as RPI is 6-0-1 since the
2006-07 season, with the tie coming in November of 2007. The two
teams first met in 1951-52, a 5-0 Brown victory. Seniors Devin Timberlake and Aaron Volpatti are Brown's statistical leaders
against RPI with 2-2-4 totals in six and seven career games,
respectively. Sophomore Jeff Buvinow adds four career points, all
assists, in three career games.
Scouting Rensselaer: The Engineers are coming off
a three-point weekend at home against Dartmouth (W, 2-1) and
Harvard (T, 3-3). In Saturday's game against the Crimson, RPI held
a 2-0 lead after two periods and a 3-1 lead with just under 19
minutes to play. Harvard closed the gap to 3-2 at 2:30 of the final
period and then netted the game-tying goal with just three seconds
left in regulation to come back for the point. The Engineers are
led by junior Chase Polacek, who has 35 points (16g, 19a) in 26
games, while freshman Brandon Pirri adds 29 points (7g, 22a) in 26
games. Senior Paul Kerins has also reached the 20-point plateau
with 8 goals and 12 assists in 25 games. Six other players are in
double digits in scoring, while an additional 14 players have all
notched at least one point on the season. Sophomore Allen York has
seen the majority of time in net for RPI and has posted a 2.70 GAA
with a .908 save percentage in 22 games (10-9-2). Freshman Bryce
Merriam has a 2.62 GAA and a .887 save percentage in five games
(3-2-0).
Brown vs. Union: This weekend marks the 39th
meeting between Brown and Union. The Bears hold a 19-10-9 series
advantage over the Dutchmen, including a 7-3-4 record in the past
14 meetings. Union was 2-0-1 in the three games prior to Brown
posting a 3-1 win in the 2006-07 regular-season finale. Since that
win, Brown has gone 2-1-2, splitting the games last season with
each team winning at home and earning a 3-3 tie in Schenectady
earlier this year. On December 30, 1989, Union defeated Brown, 3-2,
in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Senior Devin Timberlake is Brown's statistical leader against Union with 3-3-6
totals in six career games, while junior Jeremy Russell (2g, 1a),
and sophomores Jack Maclellan (1g, 2a) and Jeff Buvinow (3a) all
have three points.
Scouting Union: After going 7-0-3 in their first
10 ECAC Hockey contests and losing once in a period of 16 games
(11-1-4) dating back to the 3-3 tie with Brown on November 6th, the
Dutchmen were swept at home by Harvard (4-1) and Dartmouth (3-1)
last weekend. Led by senior Jason Walters' 28 points (13g, 15a),
the Dutchmen have three players with at least 20 points on the
season, including senior Mario Valery-Trabucco (12g, 15a) and
junior Adam Presizniuk (8g, 12a). Seven other players have reached
double digits in scoring, while 13 additional players have tallied
at least one point, leaving just goaltender Corey Milan as the only
player to have appeared in at least one game without a point.
Freshman Keith Kinkaid and Milan have split the goaltending duties
with Kinkaid appearing in one more game (13) than Milan (12). Milan
leads the team with a 2.16 GAA and a .912 save percentage, while
Kinkaid has a 2.56 GAA and a .908 save percentage. At 7-3-2,
Kinkaid's record is slightly better than that of Milan, who is
6-3-3 on the year.
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