Team Notes: Brown Faces Cornell and Colgate with Home Ice on the Line

PROVIDENCE, RI - Heading into the final regular season weekend, the Bears are still alive for one of the two remaining home ice slots for the ECAC Hockey playoffs, along with Clarkson, Quinnipiac & St. Lawrence. Brown enters the weekend sitting in ninth place in the standings - three points behind 7th-place Clarkson and Quinnipiac and one point ahead of 10th-place St. Lawrence. In order to play a home series, the Bears need at least three points this weekend and need help from both Clarkson and Quinnipiac. A win by either of those teams on either night and anything less than three points for Brown means the Bears will be on the road for the sixth straight season, as Brown has not hosted a First Round series since 2004-2005. Should Brown end up tied with either Clarkson or Quinnipiac, the Bears would lose to Clarkson (head-to-head results), but win against Quinnipiac (total league wins). Brown also holds the tiebreaker over St. Lawrence (head-to-head), and could either win or lose tiebreakers with Harvard and Colgate pending results this weekend.

Full seeding possibilities are listed below:
Union: 1-2 (clinches 1 with 4 pts)
Yale: 1-2
Dartmouth: 3-6 (clinches bye with 4 pts)
Cornell: 3-6 (clinches bye with 3 pts)
Rensselaer: 3-6
Princeton: 3-6
Clarkson: 7-9 (clinches home with 1 pt)
Quinnipiac: 7-10 (clinches home with 2 pts)
Brown: 7-12
St. Lawrence: 8-12
Colgate: 9-12
Harvard: 9-12

Last Time Out: The Bears dropped a 2-1 decision to visiting Harvard on Tuesday evening, while still playing without junior leading scorer Jack Maclellan and with only five defensemen, as both junior Jeff Buvinow and sophomore Richie Crowley were unavailable due to injuries. Harvard scored a pair of first-period power play goals and then withstood a barrage of 20 Brown shots during the third period, getting outshot 20-1 in the final 20 minutes and 41-20 for the game. Brown's goal was scored by junior Bobby Farnham, whose great individual effort - splitting a pair of Crimson defensemen for a semi-breakaway - led to his 8th goal of the year. Sophomore Chris Zaires and freshman Matt Wahl each assisted. Junior Mike Clemente recorded 18 saves in net.

These Date Historically Speaking: All-time, Brown is 9-12-1 in games played on February 25th, including a 4-7-0 record at home. The Bears are 11-9-1 in games played on February 26th, including a 7-3-0 record at home.  Brown has never faced Cornell on 2/25 and has never faced Colgate on 2/26.

Brown vs. Cornell: Cornell leads the all-time series with Brown, which began with an 8-2 Brown win on February 21, 1959, by a 68-40-5 margin. The Big Red had earned a season sweep (including 6-0 and 5-3 wins last year) over the Bears in each of the past three seasons, but Brown won its first game since a 5-2 victory on 1/20/2007 with a 3-2 win earlier this year in Ithaca, snapping Cornell's seven-game winning streak over the Bears. Brown posted its best year against Cornell in recent history during 2003-2004, when the Bears earned three points against the Big Red, claiming a 3-3 tie in Ithaca and a 2-1 overtime win in Providence. Senior Jesse Fratkin (1g, 2a), and juniors Jarred Smith (1g, 2a) and Jeff Buvinow (3a) are Brown's statistical leaders against the Big Red with three points in six career games.

Scouting Cornell: Cornell moved into a tie with Dartmouth for third place in the ECAC and can still finish anywhere from 3rd-6th in the League standings. The Big Red split its two games last weekend, dropping a 4-3 decision to Harvard on Friday, before earning a 3-2 overtime win over Dartmouth on Saturday. Senior Tyler Roeszler led the way on the weekend with two goals and an assist, while sophomore Nick D'Agostino and senior Joe Devin had a goal and an assist. Junior Mike Garman stopped 24 of 28 shots against Harvard, while freshman Andy Iles earned the win over Dartmouth with 31 saves. Devin (13g, 10a) and sophomore Greg Miller (3g, 20a) lead the team in scoring with 23 points in 27 games, while Roeszler adds 20 points (11g, 9a) in 25 games. Devin and his brother, senior Mike Devin, share the team lead with four power play goals, while Joe leads the team with four game-winning goals. In net, Iles has a 2.29 GAA and .919 save percentage in 15 games (8-4-2), while Garman has a 2.46 GAA and .914 save percentage in 14 games (5-7-1).

Brown vs. Colgate: Saturday night's game between the Raiders and the Bears marks the 75th meeting between the two teams in a series that began on March 8, 1935, a 1-0 Brown victory. Colgate leads the all-time series, 49-19-5. However,  Brown has gone 3-3-3 in its last nine games against the Raiders, including a 5-2 win in Hamilton earlier this season. Brown's best year against Colgate in recent history came during the 2008-2009 season when the Bears earned a 4-1 win in Hamilton and a 3-3 tie in Providence. Junior Jack Maclellan leads all Brown players against Colgate with seven points (1g, 6a) in five career games, while sophomore Chris Zaires and junior Bobby Farnham have four points (1g, 3a) in three and five career games, respectively.

Scouting Colgate: After winning just three of its first 27 games (3-22-2), the Raiders have come on strong over the past five games, going 4-1-0 during this time, including a pair of wins over ranked teams. Colgate picked up a 4-2 victory over Clarkson, before earning a 2-1 overtime victory at RPI, then ranked #8 in the country. After faling to #9 Union, Colgate rebounded last weekend with its first home sweep of the season and wins over #16 Dartmouth (5-3) and Harvard (2-1). Senior Francois Brisebois (2g) and sophomore Jeremy Price (1g, 2a) led Colgate against the Big Green, while junior Nick Prockow had a pair of assists against Harvard. Brisebois leads the team with 27 points (12g, 15a), while junior Austin Smith has 24 points (8g, 16a) and sophomore Kurtis Bartliff adds 23 points (6g, 17a). Brisebois and senior Brian Day share the team lead with four power play goals, while both Bartliff and sophomore Robbie Bourdon have three power play goals. Brisebois and junior Corbin McPherson both have two game-winners to lead the team. Junior Alex Evin and freshman Eric Mihalik have more-or-less split time in net this season with Evin posting a 3.22 GAA and .891 save percentage in 16 games (3-10-1) and Mihalik earning a 2.95 GAA and .892 save percentage in 15 games (4-10-1).