Men's Hockey Drops Conference Game at Union

Saturday, February 11

Schenectady, N.Y.

4 p.m.

Brown University

9-14-2, 5-11-2

Union

13-15-2, 7-10-1

Brown

Union (NY)

2/11/2023 7:40:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Brown Bears (9-14-2, 5-11-2 ECAC) settled for a weekend split in the Capital District after falling to the Union Dutchmen (13-15-2, 7-10-1 ECAC) by a 3-1 final Saturday evening at Messa Rink.

"It's really difficult to win on the road; I thought we played hard enough and with enough energy to come out with a win but it just wasn't meant to be tonight," said head coach Brendan Whittet '94. "We made two mistakes and both ended up in the back of the net. I thought the penalty kill did a good job but I thought the power play was a little scattered just because of some personnel that weren't here this weekend and losing Krys early in the second.

"It was a valiant effort but just not good enough, the goal is to win and I believe this team can win and we will. We're right on the cusp, I wasn't disappointed at all with the effort, obviously with the outcome. The guys played hard and it's just one of those things where we have to be able to overcome when we're down, which is a big step for a team and we're still trying to learn that."

Union junior Liam Robertson scored the night's first goal 9:52 into the first period to give the Dutchmen the early lead. Robertson collected a pass from Mason Snell and blasted a quick shot from the top of the circle to beat Jacob Zacharewicz (19 saves).

Brown held an 11-4 edge in shots on goal through the opening 20 minutes of play.

Union doubled the lead 2:20 into the second period as Caden Villegas one-timed a Josh Nixon pass on a Dutchmen rush.

Luke Krys was assessed a five-minute major and misconduct for a hit to the head 2:45 into the second. The Bears killed off the major with Zacharewicz turning aside five Union shots.

At 9:29 of the frame, Union sophomore Cullen Ferguson hit Lynden Grandberg high with a vicious hit in the neutral zone. Despite no initial call on the ice, the officials reviewed the play and assessed Ferguson a major and misconduct. Union goaltender Connor Murphy (21 saves) made three saves on the Bruno power play to keep the Bears off the scoreboard.

Brown pulled Zacharewicz for the extra attacker with 3:32 remaining in the third in need of two goals. With 1:08 remaining, sophomore Brett Bliss tallied his sixth goal of the season with a point-shot through traffic with assists from James Crossman and Bradley Cocca.

However, Owen Farris found the back of the empty net with 36 seconds remaining to seal the win for Union.

GAME NOTES

Both teams finished the game with 22 shots on goal and neither team found a special teams goal with Brown finishing 0-for-3 and Union finishing 0-for-2 on the power play.
Union held the slight edge at the faceoff dot, winning 29-of-56 (51.7%) of the draws.

Brown hits the road next weekend to take on the Princeton Tigers (11-13-0, 7-10-0 ECAC) on Friday (Feb. 17) before closing the weekend against the second-ranked Quinnipiac Bobcats (23-3-3, 15-2-0 ECAC) on Saturday (Feb. 18). Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+ in the United States and on Stretch Internet internationally.

Gallery: (2-11-2023) MHockey at Union (2/11/23)

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