Previewing the Brown University Bears

For the first time in fourteen years, the #2 (in the pairwise) Boston College Eagles will take on the Brown University Bears tonight @ Meehan Auditorium. This will be BC's 17th trip all time to Meehan but surprisingly, Brown has only visited Conte Forum once. So far this season, the Bears are 6-6-2 and currently in 8th place in the ECAC. Last weekend was perhaps their best two games of the season as they tied a very good Denver club and defeated Colorado College by a 4-2 score, both on the road. Brown's best win this season is without a doubt their season opener when they took down the defending National Champions by a 4-1 count at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

When we take a look at this game, there is one phrase that perfectly sums it up. "Trap game". You couldn't find a team in the country that is playing as well as BC is right now and Brown has struggled vs good teams, evident by their 1-6-1 record vs teams in the top 25.  Brown has only played four homes games this season and are 2-1-1 in that span. The lone loss was a 4-3 decision to a very good Clarkson team. Right now, the Bears are 27th in the pairwise, a whopping sixteen slots above Boston University.

What did we learn from the Holy Cross game ? You can't just show up and expect to win because of the letters on the front of the jerseys and the names on the back of it. You have to play a full, 60 minute game. Realistically, I think it is going to be difficult for BC to play as well as they did last night on consecutive evenings. The good news is, Boston College has played very well against their two previous ECAC opponents. A 7-2 win vs RPI and a 5-1 victory @ Harvard. Brown is the final ECAC team on BC's slate this season (they could obviously play Harvard in the Beanpot).

We can sit here all we want and talk about how good last night was and to be honest with you, I don't know how much better this team can play than they did twenty something hours ago. I think the biggest thing BC needs to avoid tonight is allowing Brown to get off to a hot start. Look at what happened vs Holy Cross ? They were up 5-1 with twenty minutes left! BC just can't let that happen. This is, in my opinion, the best BC team I have seen in a while when playing with a lead. Sure they have the firepower to make comebacks but tonight should be one in the win column if the Eagles come out with anywhere near the amount of jump they had a night ago.

Scouting Brown- 

Pairwise rank- 27th

Best win- Yale

Worst loss- No really awful losses. Colgate, Cornell, Quinnipiac, Clarkson, Providence, and UNH are all solid clubs.

Team offense- 2.82 goals per game (30th)

Team defense- 2.86 goals allowed per game (34th)

Power play- 17 % (39th)

Penalty kill- 79 % (46th)

Leading scorers-Matt Lorito (6-12-18), Mark Naclerio (8-10-18), Nick Lappin (7-10-17)

Keys- 

1. Get off to hot start.

2. Keep the power playing rolling


I'll post any lineup changes. Don't expect any. Demko is in net.