Team Notes: Bears to Face Rivals Dartmouth and Harvard

This Weekend: In the midst of a stretch of 16 straight ECAC Hockey contests in which Brown will alternate home and away weekends, the Bears travel to Dartmouth and Harvard to face their Ivy rivals in a pair of critical games. The weekend series marks the first time the teams will play each other in League contests, though Brown and Dartmouth did meet in a non-league game in the season opener, a 2-1 Big Green win. These games are critical for all involved, as Brown and Harvard are tied for 6th in the League with 12 points and Dartmouth and Yale are tied for 9th in the League standings with 11 points. Brown and Yale have a game-in-hand over Harvard, while Dartmouth has a game in  hand over Brown and Yale.

Last Time Out: The Bears posted a weekend split with RPI (L, 3-0) and #12 Union (W, 3-2), getting swept by the Engineers in the season series and sweeping the season series with Union. Freshman Massimo Lamacchia led the Bears with three points (1g, 2a) in the win over the Dutchmen, while senior Bobby Farnham (1g, 1a) played a part in each of the Bears' first two goals, scoring the tying goal. Junior Chris Zaires netted the game-winner less than three minutes into the third period, breaking a 2-2 tie and capping Brown's comeback. Sophomore Marco De Filippo posted 30 saves in the loss to the Engineers, while senior Mike Clemente stopped 38 shots to earn the win on Saturday night.

Brown vs. Dartmouth:  This weekend will mark the 142nd meeting in the rivalry between Brown and Dartmouth and the second meeting this year after the Big Green earned a 2-1 win over the Bears in the 2011-12 season-opener. Brown swept the season series from Dartmouth in 2007-08 (for the first time since 1997-1998), but the Big Green have posted a 6-0-1 record in the past seven games with a pair of sweeps (2008-09 & 2010-11) and three points in 2009-10 with a 9-4 win in Hanover and a 5-5 tie in Providence. Combined with the non-conference win earlier this year, Dartmouth is now 15-2-2 against the Bears since February 22, 2003. The Big Green lead the all-time series, which began on February 22, 1928 with a 15-0 Dartmouth victory, by a 71-63-8 margin. Senior Jeff Buvinow is Brown's statistical leader against Dartmouth with 2-4-6 totals in seven career games, while seniorJack Maclellan has five points (1g, 4a) in seven career games.

Scouting Dartmouth: The Big Green enter Friday's game following a 5-4 overtime victory over Colgate, a win that snapped a stretch of three straight losses, as Dartmouth fell to Union (7-1), UNH (4-1), and Cornell (4-3, ot). Friday's game marks the first home game for Dartmouth in nearly a month, as it last played at Thompson Arena on December 31st. The Big Green are led by senior Doug Jones (6g, 8a) and sophomore Matt Lindblad (3g, 11), who both have 14 points in 16 games, while sophomore Eric Robinson adds 13 points (8g, 5a) in 18 games. Two other players have reached double digits in scoring, while an additional 17 players have notched at least one point. Jones also leads the team with two power play goals, while freshman Tyler Sikura leads Dartmouth with three game-winning goals. Senior James Mello has seen the majority of time in net this year and has a 3.18 GAA and a .892 save percentage in 10 games (4-5-1). Sophomore Cab Morris has appeared in six games (3-2-1, 3.10 GAA, .890%), while senior Jody O'Neill has played in three games (1-1-0, 2.30 GAA, .914%).   

Brown vs. Harvard: Brown and Harvard have met 158 times, with the Crimson leading the all-time series, 104-42-12. Brown won the very first meeting between the two schools in the oldest active collegiate hockey rivalry, winning 6-0, in 1898 on a flooded baseball field in Dorchester, MA. Brown is 6-3-3 in the past 12 meetings, including a 4-2-2 record in the last eight games. Harvard snapped a five game winless streak against the Bears, dating back to 2/23/08, when it claimed a 5-2 win in Providence in February, 2010. The two teams split the season series again in 2010-11 with Brown earning a 4-3 win in Cambridge and Harvard posting a 2-1 win in Providence. The Bears have earned at least one point against the Crimson in each of the last five seasons with Harvard's last sweep coming during the 2005-06 campaign. Senior Jeff Buvinow leads current members of the team against Harvard with three goals in six career games, while junior Chris Zaires (4 games) and senior Jarred Smith (8 games) each have 1-2-3 totals. Sophomore Matt Wahl has three assists in two career games.

Scouting Harvard: The Crimson enter Friday night's game against Yale following a pair of 2-2 ties at Colgate and Cornell. Harvard is 0-3-5 since coming back from a three-week break, as its last win was a 4-3 victory over Princeton on December 10th. The win over Princeton was one of just three games, out of their last 11, to be decided in regulation, as the Crimson have gone to overtime eight times (0-1-7) since November 25th. Harvard is led by senior Alex Killorn, who has 23 points (11g, 12a) in 18 games, while junior Danny Biega (4g, 16a) adds 20 points in 18 games. Five other players have posted double digits in scoring, while an additional 14 have notched at least one point this season. Killorn also leads the team with 7 power play goals, while Biega leads Harvard with two game-winning goals. Freshman Steve Michalek has played the majority of time in net this season and has earned a 3.10 GAA with a .895 save percentage in 17 games (4-5-7). Sophomore Raphael Girard has appeared in four games (0-1-1) and has a 4.35 GAA and an .846 save percentage.