Brown Shocks Icemen at Home For First Time in a Decade, 6-5

Want to know what it feels like to be embarrassed?

Ask any member of the Harvard men's hockey team, he'll be able tell you.

After taking part in Saturday's 6-5 loss to Brown, every Harvard hockey player knows what embarrassment is.

It is allowing an inferior Brown club--which Harvard had just beaten 4-2 last Tuesday in Providence--to come into Cambridge and make the previously undefeated Crimson look like a group of chumps in front of the 2147 in attendance.

But you can forget the fact that Harvard (4-1-1, ECAC 4-1-1) is no longer undefeated.

You can also forget that Brown's win was the first over Harvard at Bright Arena in 11 years.

The lesson of this game can't be learned from the streaks broken in it.

The real lesson is that this season's Harvard squad has to play 60 minutes of good hockey to win.

And Saturday night, Harvard simply didn't play good hockey for 60 minutes.

While the offense produced a solid number of goals, it wasted plenty of opportunities, including going 0-5 on power plays.

The Crimson defense, without the services of Captain Kevin Sneddon for the second game in a row, had its worst outing of the year, conceding more goals than it had in Harvard's last three contests combined.

Want a taste of some of Saturday's action?

Take what was undoubtably the most discouraging opposing goal of the young season. It came with Brown up 5-4 with 5:44 elapsed in the third period and Harvard threatening to tie on a power play.

Bears defenseman Mike Brewer weaved his way past the entire Crimson defense--unmolested--from the blue line to the goalie's crease. Once there, he, apparent ease, backhanded the eventual game-winner past Roy.

Embarrassing?

You bet.

"We got what we deserved," Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni said.

Tomassoni's team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals by senior Tim Burke and Perry Cohagan, but it only watched as Brown erupted with four unanswered goals that gave the Bears a 4-2 lead that the Crimson couldn't overcome.

"Those first two goals came a little easy for us. They kinda lulled us to sleep," Tomassoni explained. "I think everyone thought it was going to be a rout and it obviously wasn't."

Indeed, for most of the first period both team exhibited the kind of play that usually results in a Harvard win: not too many penalties, not too much hitting and a lot of skating.

But with time running out in the first frame, Brown Coach Bob Gaudet changed his approach.

Gaudet relied less on his first two lines, which feature Brown's finesse skaters and went more to his fourth line, which contains the bulk of the team.

The 555 lb. line threw its weight on the ice late in the first period, and did its job: increasing penalties applying more hits, and skating less.

Brown scored four times before the close of the second period, while Harvard didn't tally once.

"Prior to this, we were trying to do everything perfectly. Tonight, we threw the puck out of our end and played like a professional hockey team," Gaudet said.

Tomassoni wasn't surprised that Brown got physical, but he was disappointed that his team didn't really respond.

Harvard managed to produce in the third period, but never could get close enough.

Harvard climbed within one goal three times, but was pushed away twice by Brown goals and once by time running out in the game.

With just 19 seconds elapsed in the third period, Harvard junior Matt Mallgrave closed the gap to 4-3 when he pushed in a loose puck sitting on the crease past netminder Geoff Finch, who was looking in the other direction.

Brown answered less than one minute later as forward Kelly Jones slapped a shot into the left side of the Harvard net, beating goalie Allain Roy.

Just over a minute later at 2:17