Bears Drop 3-2 Overtime Thriller to Yale

In the second half of a weekend home-and-home series against Ivy rival Yale, the Bears lost a tough 3-2 game in overtime at Meehan Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, despite a goal and an assist from junior Erica Kromm.  With the loss, Brown falls to 2-16-4 on the season, including 0-13-3 in ECAC Hockey play, while Yale improves to 9-11-3 overall, and 7-8-1 against league opponents.

The first period started slowly, as the first score didn’t come until over 12 minutes into the frame.  Both teams played well on offense early despite the score though, but goalies Katie Jamieson and Jackee Snikeris were at the top of their games, making several impressive saves.  The Bulldogs finally broke through just past the midway point though, scoring a power play goal to take a 1-0 lead.

Brown answered just two minutes later, however, as Kromm scored her third goal of the season to even the score.  Classmate Jenna Dancewicz and rookie Alena Polenska were credited with assists on the play.  Though the Bulldogs scored once more just before the end of the frame to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission, the Bears came back out looking confident, going on to outshoot Yale 11-10 in the second.

Brown’s pressure on Snikeris paid off with just over three minutes left in the middle frame, as freshman Laurie Jolin picked up her team leading eighth point of the season with another power play goal.  Polenska and Kromm each picked up their second point of the day with assists on the goal.

Though there was no scoring in the third frame, it was perhaps the most exciting of the afternoon, as both teams played with terrific intensity, realizing that the next goal could be the winner.  Jamieson and Snikeris kept rolling though, stopping all 22 shots that they saw, and the teams were forced to turn to overtime to determine the winner.

In the overtime frame, the Bears had a chance almost immediately, as sophomore Katelyn Landry picked up a loose puck and had a good shot on goal.  Though Snikeris made the initial save, she gave up a rebound, and the Bears were nearly able to put it into net.  However, it was Yale that tallied the final score, as Aleca Hughes found the back of the goal for a 3-2 overtime win for the Bulldogs.

The Bears will be back in action on Friday, February 5, when they travel to Cambridge to take on the Harvard Crimson at 7:00 p.m.