{"id":91040,"date":"2019-02-09T21:53:47","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T03:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=91040"},"modified":"2020-08-24T12:54:47","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T17:54:47","slug":"game-of-the-week-browns-whittet-says-its-good-to-see-them-rewarded-as-bears-upsets-no-4-quinnipiac-4-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2019\/02\/09\/game-of-the-week-browns-whittet-says-its-good-to-see-them-rewarded-as-bears-upsets-no-4-quinnipiac-4-1\/","title":{"rendered":"GAME OF THE WEEK: Brown’s Whittet says ‘it’s good to see them rewarded’ as Bears upset No. 4 Quinnipiac, 4-1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There was plenty to celebrate for Brown which went on the road and frustrated No. 4 Quinnipiac, 4-1 (photo: Rob Rasmussen).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HAMDEN, Conn. —\u00a0<\/strong>For all its recent success, there was one glaring hole in Brown\u2019s game: its power play.<\/p>\n

That changed Saturday against No. 4 Quinnipiac, as the Bears scored the first goal of the game on a power play early in the second, and then scored three-even strength goals in the opening minutes of the third period to beat the Bobcats 4-1.<\/p>\n

Four different players scored for Brown, while Luke Kania had career-high 47 saves to help the Bears (10-10-3, 7-6-3) complete a four-point weekend on the road.<\/p>\n

Brown is 8-3 since the holiday break, including a 5-2 mark in ECAC Hockey. That stretch has pushed the Bears into sixth place in the league, three points behind fourth-place Harvard. With three weeks left in the season, the Bears are in position to host a playoff series for the first time since 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have really good skill,\u201d Brown coach Brendan Whittet said of Quinnipiac. \u201cThey can get flying and you can get easily discouraged here. I thought we played a pretty good first and then you look up at the shots (14-7 in favor of QU) and if you\u2019re not mentally tough and not in the moment sometimes you look and say \u2018Geez, did we play that well?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Brent Beaudoin\u2019s power-play goal made it 1-0 Brown 3:39 into the second period. Justin Jallen\u2019s shot attempt from the right circle deflected to Beaudoin in the opposite circle, who then ripped the puck past Andrew Shortridge (25 saves).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been really trying to string something like this along for a while,\u201d Beaudoin said of Brown\u2019s play of late. \u201cThat is huge for us because we wanted to prove that we can play against hot teams like Quinnipiac.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the second power-play goal of the weekend for the Bears, who also scored on the man advantage against Princeton Friday. Brown entered the weekend 6-for-66 on the power play this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe mixed up some things with some personnel changes and some different sets,\u201d Whittet said of the Brown power play.<\/p>\n

The Bears controlled play following the goal, as the Bobcats struggled to get much going despite finishing with 48 shots.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t score, couldn\u2019t score and it just created a lot of frustration,\u201d Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. \u201cI don\u2019t think our players handled it well. We struggled defending \u2026 mentally we lacked emotion, we lacked passion we didn\u2019t have that fire that makes us good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown scored twice in fifteen seconds to open the third period. Alex Brink whacked a rebound between Shortridge\u2019s pads to make it 2-0 fifty second into the period, and then a Quinnipiac turnover along the boards resulted in Chris Berger\u2019s goal at 1:05 to make it 3-0.<\/p>\n

Brogan Rafferty\u2019s power-play goal made it 3-1 Brown at 2:07 in the period, but the Bears restored their three-goal lead a minute later when Jack Gessert put home his own rebound to make it 4-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had some trouble in the past with that,\u201d Beaudoin said of regrouping after the other team scores. \u201cI think we\u2019ve taken a step in the right direction. As a team, we\u2019ve gotten more mature and made sure that when we get scored on we reset and we\u2019ll be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

A contact to the head penalty against Brown defenseman Max Gottlieb sent the Bobcats on the power play with 4:37 left in the third. Pecknold pulled Shortridge for the extra skater, but Kania made eight saves with the Bears shorthanded, including a point-blank stop of Wyatt Bongiovanni\u2019s shot from the left post.<\/p>\n

The Bears also blocked several Quinnipiac shots during the penalty kill to holddd the Bobcats scoreless.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means everything for us,\u201d Kania said of his teammates blocking shots. \u201cThere are a lot of shots that I don\u2019t end up seeing. I really appreciate it. I know they\u2019re not wearing the same gear I am. They\u2019re warriors out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the second strong outing in a row for the Bears sophomore, who made 32 saves Friday against Princeton. Kania started his third straight game Saturday in place of junior Gavin Nieto, who is out with an injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very calm tonight,\u201d Whittet said of Kania. \u201cWe have a lot of faith in Luke. He was the starter the majority of last year and came into this year as the starter early\u201d<\/p>\n

Nieto\u2019s injury is not expected to be long term. But either way, the Bears are in a good position entering the stretch run of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t be happier for the guys for how they\u2019re playing and the effort that they are putting in,\u201d Whittet said. \u201cIt\u2019s good to see them rewarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around the Nation<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. 14 UMass Lowell 2, No. 2 Massachusetts 0<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the second straight night, UMass Lowell pitched a shutout, this time against Hockey East’s top team, No. 2 Massachusetts. And what might be a surprise to many, it was a different goaltender doing the honor for the River Hawks.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Tyler Wall earned his seventh career shutout with a 3-0 blanking of Boston College. A night later, Chris Hernberg stopped all 31 shots he faced to upset the Minutemen.<\/p>\n

Chris Schutz and Anthony Baxter each scored in the opening period. From there, the River Hawks defense and goaltending shutdown one of the nation’s top offenses to climb within two point of UMass for first place in Hockey East.<\/p>\n

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#TheMothership<\/a> is at cruising altitude ?? The unbeaten streak continues off ANOTHER shutout from our studs in net and a goal each from Chris Schutz and Anthony Baxter. We\u2019ll see ya next week Providence ?<\/p>\n

Check out the highlights from the W: pic.twitter.com\/2yVDGpTRLF<\/a><\/p>\n

— UMass Lowell Hockey (@RiverHawkHockey) February 10, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n