Brown won a shootout with Findlay to claim third place in the Subway Holiday Classic at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Officially the game will count as a tie after it ended 1-1 in regulation and neither team scored during overtime.
All the scoring occurred in the first period. Brown got on the board at 13:34 with a goal by junior wing Chris Swon. On a 2-on-1 rush set up by a pass from freshman wing Sean Dersch, Swon fired a wrist shot from the left circle that cleanly beat goalie Jon Horrell.
Findlay tied it 1-1 at 19:44 with a power play goal. Freshman forward Mike Batovanja fired a slapshot from the bottom of the left circle. Brown goalie Yann Danis stopped the shot, but the rebound went directly to junior forward Mark Bastl, who fired the puck into an open net.
For the remainder of the game and the overtime period, it was a battle between goalies Horrell, who had 37 saves, and Danis, who had 30.
Findlay appeared to have the best opportunity to win in regulation when, in the final minute, freshman Justin Perry got the puck alone in the slot, but shot it wide.
In the shootout to determine the third-place tournament winner, Horrell was scored on twice by Brown’s Brian Ihnacak and Brent Robinson. Andrew Radzak was the only Findlay player to score on Danis, which gave Brown a 3-2 win and the third place trophy.
Despite losing 3-1 to North Dakota after leading the Sioux late in the third period Saturday and tying Brown on Sunday, Findlay coach Pat Ford was upbeat about picking up a point for the weekend.
“I’m somewhat satisfied. I’m a little bit happier than last night,” he said of the tie with 12th-ranked Brown.
“The effort was there and we’re building as a team. As everybody can see, we still have a ways to go, but it’s encouraging for me that we’re taking some steps forward. For us, it was a great challenge both days and we’re going back to Findlay a better hockey team,” Ford said.
Although Brown coach Roger Grillo thought the Bears played better against Findlay than they did in their 3-2 overtime loss to Wayne State, he was disappointed with his team’s effort for the weekend.
“Certainly, we need to work on a few things before we get back into league play next weekend,” he said. “We’re a decent team, but we’re a team that needs to come out and compete and battle and bring energy. We’re struggling with our confidence a little right now and we need to find it as soon as we can.”
Brown, 6-3-3 overall and 6-2-1 in the ECAC, plays at Rensselaer Jan. 2 and at Union Jan. 3. Findlay, 4-12-3 overall and 1-4-1 in the CHA, plays Jan. 3 at Notre Dame.
