Brown and Rensselaer exchanged goals during a 1:02 span between the second and third periods to skate to a 1-1 tie at Meehan Auditorium. With the tie, the Bears remained unbeaten at home, but are now winless in their past three games after getting off to a 4-1 start.
Despite getting outshot 32-22, the Brown squad seemed disappointed to come away with just a tie. For the Engineers, the one point was crucial to avoid digging themselves into a deep hole in early season ECAC action, considering they have to travel up I-95 to face Harvard on Saturday.
“It’s frustrating,” said Brown head coach Roger Grillo. “We are not clicking right now. We are a better team than we showed tonight.”
Both teams found themselves on the power play often. Brown failed to score on seven chances, including two short five-on-three stints, thanks in part to a couple of shots which clanged off the post and a strong performance from junior Kevin Kurk in net.
“I think we took too many penalties tonight,” said Rensselaer head coach Dan Friedgen. “We need to do a better job of being disciplined in a game like this. But other than that we did not make too many other mistakes, which will cost you on the road.”
Brown All-American goalie Yann Danis was especially sharp tonight at the other end. His best save came on an RPI chance in the second on a breakaway, as he made a great glove save in his usual patient fashion. After giving up eight goals last weekend, Danis kept his team in this game, making up for a sputtering offense, which was held scoreless on its past road trip.
“If you score one goal in three games you’re not going to win much,” said Brown captain Tye Korbl, who scored Brown’s only goal on a rebound chance late in the second. “We need to get back to the little things. I feel we should have won this game, but we have to use this adversity to just get better.”
RPI controlled most of the action in the first, outshooting Brown 13-6. Neither team could convert on five-on-three chances late in the period, as both junior goalies were strong early on.
For Brown, the main problem was getting second chances on Kurk. The Engineers, on the other hand, were just trying to figure out a way to solve Danis.
The same story continued in the second, until Korbl scored an even-strength goal with just ten seconds left. Sophomore forwards Chris Swon and Jarrett Robertson failed to score on an odd-man chance, but the rebound came to Korbl who fired it in.
RPI answered quickly in the third to make it a 1-1 game. The Engineers had a good shift, and finally converted on a play that started out of the left corner. Mikael Hammerstrom and Kevin Croxton turned some good work down low in the zone into a chance for junior Ryan Shields. Shields threw a wild backhand at the net, which slid just inside the wide post.
Danis and Kurk stood strong to take the game to overtime. Brown registered the only shot on goal in the 5:00 frame — a low angle shot — which was sticked aside. The tie was the first of the season for both teams.
“I don’t think there is any reason to panic,” Grillo said. “We just have to keep working at it and the goals will come for us.”
