Bears Host Harvard and Dartmouth; Winter Whiteout Scheduled for Saturday's Game

This Weekend: The Bears will look to make a move in the ECAC Hockey standings this weekend against Harvard and Dartmouth, two schools surrounding Brown in the League standings. The Bears are just one point behind the Crimson and sit four points ahead of the Big Green. Currently riding a three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) and a six-game unbeaten streak at home (5-0-1), Brown will look to continue its momentum, as this weekend marks two of the final four regular season home games that remain on the schedule. This weekend also marks Alumni Weekend, as the annual Alumni Game is scheduled for Saturday at noon.

Last Time Out: Brown picked up three points last weekend in a pair of overtime games. On Friday night, the Bears earned a 4-3 win over RPI, as senior Aaron Volpatti scored just 47 seconds into the overtime. The next night against Union, Brown came back from a 2-0 first period deficit with a pair of second period goals to force the tie and pick up the point. On Friday, Brown was led by four different players with two points each, as Volpatti and sophomore Bobby Farnham both had a goal and an assist, and senior Sean McMonagle and junior Harry Zolnierczyk both had a pair of assists. Sophomore Mike Clemente recorded 27 saves. The next night against Union, Brown received goals from sophomore Jack Maclellan, who netted his second goal of the weekend, and junior Tyler Fernandez, who tallied his first career goal. Clemente earned the tie with 31 saves, including all 22 he faced in the final 45 minutes of play.

Coming Up: The Bears' final six games will alternate between away and homeseries, as Brown travels to Cornell and Colgate next weekend to close out the regular-season series with the New York duo. Brown returns home February 19-20 and then will close out the regular season on the road with a trip to Quinnipiac and Princeton.

These Dates Historically Speaking: All-time, Brown is 7-9-1 in games played on February 5th and 8-10-0 in games played on February 6th. Brown is 3-4-1 in home games on the 5th and 5-4-0 in home games on the 6th. Brown and Dartmouth have met two other times on February 6th, most recently last season. The Big Green claimed a 5-2 win in Providence last year and also earned a 4-3 overtime win in Hanover in 1982.

Brown vs. Harvard: Brown and Harvard have met 155 times, with the Crimson leading the all-time series, 102-41-12. 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 5-1-3 in the past nine meetings, including a 3-0-2 record in the last five meetings (2-0-2 last season, including a pair of shutout wins in the ECAC First Round). The wins in the playoffs marked the first time in Harvard's 109-year history that the Crimson had been shutout in back-to-back games by an American University. Harvard's last win in the series came on February 23, 2008 when the Crimson earned a 2-1 victory in Cambridge. Brown was also 1-0-1 during the 2006-07 campaign. Senior Aaron Volpatti is Brown's statistical leader against Harvard with 6 points (2g, 4a) in 8 career games, including a goal in the last meeting, while senior Jordan Pietrus adds four points (1g, 3a). Juniors Harry Zolnierczyk (1g, 2a) and Jeremy Russell (3a) each add three points.

Scouting Harvard: The Crimson have dropped two straight games, falling, 2-1, to Princeton on Friday, and 6-0 to Boston College on Monday night in the first round of the Beanpot. Prior to the loss to the Tigers, Harvard had gone 3-0-1 in its previous four games with wins over Yale (3-2), Dartmouth (4-1), and Union (4-1), and a tie with RPI (3-3). The Crimson are led by freshman Louis Leblanc, who has 17 points (9g, 8a) in 18 games, while junior Michael Biega adds 16 points (5g, 11a) in 20 games. Four other players have reached double digits in scoring, while an additional 14 players have posted at least one point. Junior Kyle Richter has seen the majority of time in net for Harvard and has posted a 3.74 GAA with a .900 save percentage in 13 games (705:15). Junior Ryan Carroll has played in nine games (494:15) and has earned a 2.55 GAA and a .924 save percentage.

Brown vs. Dartmouth: This weekend marks the 138th meeting in the rivalry between Brown and Dartmouth. The Bears swept the season series from Dartmouth in 2007-08 (for the first time since 1997-1998), but the Big Green earned the season sweep last season with a 5-1 win in Hanover and a 5-2 win in Providence and then claimed a 9-4 win in Hanover earlier this season to post a third straight victory. The wins give Dartmouth a 12-2-1 record over Brown, dating back to February 22, 2003. Dartmouth leads the all-time series, which began on February 22, 1928 with a 15-0 Big Green victory, by a 68-63-7 margin. Senior Jordan Pietrus is Brown's statistical leader against Dartmouth with 1-3-4 totals in six career games, while junior Harry Zolnierczyk (2g, 1a) and senior Sean McMonagle (1g, 2a) each have three points in four and six career games, respectively.

Scouting Dartmouth: The Big Green dropped a 5-3 decision to Princeton in their last game out, which snapped a two-game winning streak after victories over Union (3-1) and Quinnipiac (4-3). Dartmouth is led by junior Adam Estoclet, who has 20 points (8g, 12a) in 19 games, while junior Scott Fleming has 19 points (10g, 9a) in 21 games. Four other players have reached double digits in scoring, while an additional 13 players have posted at least one point on the season. Sophomore Jody O'Neill has seen the majority of time in net and has posted a 3.82 GAA and a .890 save percentage in 18 games (910:37). Sophomore James Mello has appeared in seven games (303:06) and has a 1.98 GAA with a .936 save percentage.

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