Women's Hockey Travels to Maine for Non-Conference Matchup

Tuesday, December 30

Portland, Maine

5 p.m.

Brown University

Maine - Cross Insurance Arena

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Photo by: Jay Ruzicka

Women's Hockey Travels to Maine for Non-Conference Matchup

12/29/2025 10:58:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown women's hockey returns to the ice to close out 2025 with a non-conference neutral site matchup against Maine on Tuesday (Dec. 30). The game will be played at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine with puck drop set for 5 p.m.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

SKATE SHAVINGS
• Brown returns from the holiday break with a non-conference matchup against Maine. The game will be played at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. This will be the first meeting between Brown and Maine since the 2015 season.
• Brown split its weekend series with Yale the last time on the ice (Dec. 6-7) as both teams won home games. The Bears earned a 4-2 win to start the weekend, breaking a seven game losing streak to the Bulldogs.
• The Bears were ranked No. 15 in the USA Hockey poll for the week of Dec. 16, giving Brown eight-straight weeks of being in a top-15 poll.
• Brown's eight wins were tied for the most through 12 games since the 2004-05 season. Brown started that season 8-4-0. The Bears' nine wins before the holiday break are tied for the most in program history with the 2004-05 season.

SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS
• Maine is 6-11-2 on the season with a 3-5-2 mark in Hockey East play.
• The Black Bears went 1-0-1 against New Hampshire the last time they took the ice wth a 4-3 overtime win and a 2-2 tie against the Wildcats.
• In the last seven games, Maine has gone 2-4-1. In the two wins, Maine has scored four goals but the Black Bears scored just one goal in each of their four losses and two in the tie.
• Maine is getting outscored by almost a goal a game on the season. While 18 different players have found the net for Maine, the leading goal scorers only have four goals each.

INSIDE THE SERIES
• Brown holds a 10-5-3 advantage in the series with Maine but the two teams have not met since the 2015-16 season.
• Brown dropped both meetings that season after winning the two meetings in the 2014-15 campaign.
• The Bears have not won away from Providence against Maine since a 3-0 win in Orono on Oct. 29, 2024, a span of six games.
• This will be the second-ever neutral site contests between the two teams with the last being a 4-0 Maine victory in Auburn, Maine on Oct. 23, 2015.

GRATZL HAD A MONTH
• Isabella Gratzl was named ECAC Defender of the Month for the month of November. Gratzl finished the month with four goals and four assists, to be second on the team in points with eight.
• Gratzl had a five-game point streak during the month and had a goal in three-straight games from Nov. 14-21
• The first year was also named a runner up for AHCA National Defender of the Month.
• Gratzl is the first Bear to win an ECAC monthly award since Anna Hurd was named ECAC Rookie of the month on Nov. 2, 2021.

WEEKLY AWARDS
• Isabella Gratzl was named ECAC Defender of the Week on Nov. 11, the first Bear to pick up a weekly honor this season. Gratzl finished the weekend against Delaware with a goal and two assists.
• Monique Lyons earned her first ECAC Forward of the Week honor on Nov. 18 after helping the Bears going 2-0 on the weekend with wins over Dartmouth and Harvard. Lyons scored on goal against the Big Green before posting a three-point game with two goals, including the overtime game-winner against Harvard.
• Anya Zupkofska was named ECAC Goaltender of the Week on Nov. 18 for the first time after going 2-0 against Dartmouth and Harvard. Zupkofska posted her third shutout of the season against Dartmouth (26 saves) and earned the win with 25 saves against Harvard.

CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
• The Bears will have two players with the 'C' on their sweaters this season, as seniors Jade Iginla and India McDadi were both voted captains for the season
• Iginla, who served as a captain last season, finished last year with 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists)
• McDadi was an assistant captain a season ago and was third on the team in points (20) and second on the team in assists (14).

DONNING THE 'A'
• Two Bears will be serving as assistant captains this season with seniors Gali Levy and Ellie Gauvin being voted by their teammates.

RETURNING FIREPOWER
• Brown boasts and impressive group of returners as Brown returns 85% (63-74 goals) of its goal scoring from a season-ago.
• The top-five goal scorers from last year are back, led by Moniques Lyons (14), Margot Norehad (12), Ava DeCoste (11), India McDadi (6) and Jade Iginla (6).
• The Bears return seven of their eight double-digit points scorers from last season, including Lyons (24), DeCoste (21) and McDadi (20), who all reached the 20-point mark.

STRONG START FOR THE BEARS
• Brown began the season 2-0-0 with wins over No. 13 Boston University and Merrimack. It is the second-straight season Brown has started 2-0-0 and the first time Brown has going 2-0-0 to start back-to-back seasons since 2000-01 and 2001-02
• The win at No. 13 Boston University was the first ranked win in a season opener for the Bears since Brown beat No. 2 Minnesota to start the 2000-01 season.
• Brown's 7-2-1 start to the season is the best 10-game start for the Bears since Brown went 8-2-0 to start the 1999-00 season. Brown bested their 6-4-0 start from last season.
• Brown matched its most wins before the winter break (9) since the Bears won nine games in the 2004-05 season, that year the Bears started the season 9-4-0.

HITTING THE WINS IN 2024-25
• With Brown's win over Dartmouth, the Bears reached 14 wins on the year and nine wins in ECAC play. Both of those numbers are the most for Brown since the 2005-06 season.
• The Bears earned their winning record since the 2005-06 season.
• Brown's five Ivy League wins last season are the most since winning five in the 2003-04 season.

ZUPKOFSKA SHUTOUTS
• Sophomore Anya Zupkofska posted her first-career shutout in the 1-0 win over Merrimack on Oct. 19.
• Zupkofska followed that up with her second shutout of the season, putting up a clean sheet against Delaware. Zupkofska finished with 21 saves in the shutout.
• Zupkofska kept the sheet clean with a 26-save shutout against Dartmouth before allowing her first goal of the season 6:26 seconds into the game against Harvard.
• Dating back to last season, Zupkofska had a shutout streak of 188:17. It is the longest streak by a Bear goaltender since Ali Brewer posted a 376:03 streak in 1998-99.
• Zupkofska and Rory Edwards have combined for four shutouts this season through 10 games. The four shutouts match the most in a season for the Bears since 2011-12.

LYONS FLYING HIGH
• Monique Lyons posted her third-career three point game against Harvard with the sophomore collecting two goals (including the overtime game winner) and an assist against Harvard.
• Lyons posted a career-best six game point streak and the Bears went 6-1-0 during the streak from Nov. 8 to Dec. 6.

WHO NEEDS SHOTS
• Brown beat No. 13 Boston University despite finishing the game with just 18 shots on goal. Brown had not won a game in the last two seasons (0-17-0) when registering less than 20 shots.
• Brown completed the comeback with a third period goal, a period in which the Bears had just four shots. the fewest in the game.

I GUESS SHOTS DO WORK
• In the win over Merrimack Brown flipped the script, peppering Merrimack with 43 shots. It was the most shots for the Bears in a game since firing 47 against Harvard on Feb. 7, 2025.
• Brown outshot Merrimack 43-10, matching the largest discrepancy since that Harvard game (47-14).
• Brown's 43 shots netting just one goal are the most shots in a game with one goal or fewer since the Bears were shutout despite 47 shots in a loss against Union in 2010.
• In Brown's win over Delaware, the Bears tallied 54 shots, the most shots by a Bears team since the season opener against Franklin Pierce last season (56 shots).

BEARS IN THE PWHL
• Brown had three former players earn spots on training camp rosters in the PWHL. Former goalie Shay Maloney earned a roster spot with the Boston Fleet, Kaley Doyle was in camp with the New York Sirens, and Cam Sikich was in camp with the Minnesota Frost.

TAKING DOWN THE BOBCATS
• Brown shutout Quinnipiac for a win over the No. 7 ranked Bobcats on Oct. 25. In a series that has been dominated by the Bobcats, Brown is now 3-0-1 in the last four meetings.
• It is the first time Brown has gone unbeaten against Quinnipiac in four-straight games since the first four games the two teams ever played from 2002-06.
• In the win, Brown shutdown an offense that had been averaging 4.50 goals per game. It is the second-straight game Brown has shutout Quinnipiac. The last time a non-Brown team had shutout Quinnipiac was Cornell on March 2, 2024.

THE WRONG FIVE
• Brown allowed five goals against Cornell in the first meeting with the Big Red this season. Over the last two seasons, Brown has allowed five goals in just two ECAC games. Both of those occurrences have been against Cornell.

SAYING NO TO SHUTOUTS
• The Bears avoided a shutout against Cornell and have now stretched their streak of regular season games without being shutout to 20 games.
• The last time Brown was shutout in a regular season game was a 0-0 tied against Quinnipiac on Jan. 25, 2025.
• The last time Brown was shutout in a loss was a 0-3 defeat to Yale on Nov. 17. That is a stretch of 33-straight regular seasons contests.

SEEING THE POLLS
• Brown has now been ranked in the USA Hockey poll for the seventh-straight week. It is the longest stretch in the rankings for the Bears since being ranked for 19 weeks in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
• The No. 11 ranking is also the highest in a season for the Bears since 2005-06, when the Bears were ranked 10th at one point.
Date          USCHO Poll              USA Hockey Poll
Oct. 20    RV                               RV
Oct. 27     15                                15
Nov. 3      15                                15
Nov. 10     13                                13
Nov. 17     12                                13
Nov. 24    11                                 11
Dec. 1        RV                               13
Dec. 8       RV                               15
Dec. 16    --               15

PENALTY PROBLEMS
• In Brown's losses to Cornell (Nov. 1) and Yale (Dec. 7), the Bears allowed three power play goals in both games. Those six goals in two games are double what Brown has allowed (3) in the other 14 games.
• Brown was whistled for nine penalties against the Bulldogs in the two game weekend but the penalty kill was a tale of two games for the Bears.
• In Brown's home win against Yale, the Bears managed to kill off all five penalties. In the road loss to Yale, Brown allowed goals in three of the four power plays, with all three goals being scored on the power play.
• Brown now has two weekends on the season (Nov. 14-15; Dec. 6-7) that the Bears have been whistled for nine penalties, a season-high. Last season, Brown's highest penalty weekend was six penalties.
• Last season, Brown allowed 22 power play goals on just 66 penalties (33.3%).
• The six penalties for the Bears against the Big Green were the most whistled on Brown since committing six at St. Lawrence on Nov. 20, 2021.

EARLY SEASON SCORING
• Monique Lyons had eight goals through Brown's first 12 games. Lyons passed Jade Iginla, who had seven goals through Brown's first 12 games when she was a freshman in the 2022-23 season.
• The last Bear to have more goals through the first 12 games in a season was Sena Hanson, who scored nine goals in Brown's first 12 games. Hanson's 10th goal of the season came in Brown's 14 game of the year.
• If Lyons scores before the game against Yale on Dec. 7, she will pass Ava DeCoast, who had eight goals before the winter break last season.

GETTING IGINLA GOING
• Jade Iginla has scored a goal in fourof Brown's last five games, inlcluding each of the last three. The senior had been held without a goal for the first 11 games of the season

DUECES WILD
• In Brown's contest against Providence, both Olivia Fantino and Ava DeCoste collected their first two-point games of the season. Both players finished with a goal and an assist.

SCORING EARLY...
• Against Providence, Brown scored at the 1:43 mark in the first period. It was the fastest Brown goal in a game since Oct. 25, 2022 against Harvard.
• The Bears followed that up with a goal just 2:47 into the game against New Hampshire. Iginla's goal against the Wildcats was the second-fastest goal of the season.

GIVING IT UP LATE
• Brown's games against Providence and New Hampshire were the first games all season that Brown had lost when having the lead after the first period.
• When leading after the first 20 minutes Brown came into the weekend 2-0-1.
• Brown was 6-1-0 last season when leading after the first period and have already matched the loss mark from a season ago.
• The Bears also held the lead after the first period against Yale before falling to the Bulldogs.

MAGIC NUMBER THREE
• Under head coach Melanie Ruzzi, Brown's magic number has been three goals. The Bears are 32-5-5 when they can put three goals on the scoreboard. Brown is just 15-66-8 when scoring less than three goals.

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