Halloweekend was a frightful affair for the Brown men’s and women’s hockey teams. Both programs embarked on tough road trips: the women took a long bus ride to central New York to face ECAC powers Colgate and Cornell, while the men flew out to Colorado to face Air Force in a pair of games. The women managed a draw against #11 Colgate before getting run over by a dominant fourth-ranked Cornell team on Saturday. Meanwhile, the men were swept aside by the Falcons, falling 2-0 in the season opener on Friday and dropping a 4-3 decision the next night.

Let’s break down each game based on what we saw. As a bonus, we’ll assign Halloween candies to each game based on the teams’ performances.

WIH: A mixed bag

@ #11 Colgate: T, 3-3 (won shootout 2-0)

Candy: Sour Patch Kids

Brown flipped the Sour Patch Kids’ paradigm on its head against Colgate: sweet, then sour.

The Bears, ranked #15 coming into the weekend, played the 11th-ranked Raiders to a 3-3 tie before winning in a shootout. Brown will rue the result, as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period before giving the lead away.

The Raiders tied the score at 2-2 later in the frame, but then the Bears quickly scored a third and reclaimed the lead. After a scoreless second period, Colgate buried Brown in its own zone in the third and was ultimately able to tie the score with just over six minutes remaining in the game to force overtime. On the bright side, it was the first time Brown had taken points off of Colgate in 13 games, dating back to 2018.

Key Takeaways:

Colgate has been a mystery this year — after being picked to finish second in the ECAC again, they were easily swept by Ohio State and have since dropped a couple of clunkers early this season, falling to a bad Maine team and a confusing Dartmouth team (they beat Clarkson this past weekend, so maybe they’re actually good? TBD). The Raiders looked the part of a team in freefall early, as the Bears were able to score three first-period goals off of broken defensive plays.

But, after briefly tying the game at two late in the first period, Colgate dominated the pace of play for the rest of the game. They outshot Brown 24-9 in the second and third periods, and were finally rewarded with the tying goal.

It’s a bit difficult to fully judge Brown’s performance. They came out flying, creating several chances early before cashing in, and they outshot a Colgate team that isn’t often beaten in the possession game 13-8 in the first period. However, the Bears’ forecheck waned in the second and third periods as Colgate grew into the game and started to control the puck in the offensive zone for minutes at a time. Overall, it’s hard to fault Brown for a hard-fought tie on the road against a good opponent — however, relinquishing a pair of leads and being forced to settle for a tie will sting a bit.

Stick Taps:

Margot Norehad was fantastic for Brown, continuing her hot start to the season by potting the first two goals of the game in just seven minutes to extend her four-game point streak.
India McDadi picked up a goal for the second straight game, converting on a breakaway chance late in the first period. She also notched an assist on the second Norehad goal.
Rory Edwards made 33 saves for the third consecutive game, and bailed the Bears out at times in the second and third periods as Colgate pushed for the tying goal. At this rate, she should consider changing her number from 35 to 33.

Junior Margot Norehad has been Brown's top offensive threat thus far, tallying four goals and an assist in six games. Photo credit to Brown Athletics.

@ #4 Cornell: L, 1-5

Candy: Candy Corn

Nobody wants candy corn; it just appears, and it’s part of the Halloween experience. The same can be said about playing Cornell: you’d really rather not, but they’re on the schedule twice per season and you’d better get used to it.

Brown got pushed around on Saturday in Ithaca by a terrifying fourth-ranked Cornell team. The Big Red have looked unbeatable so far, outscoring their opponents 30-5 (not a typo, I assure you) in seven thoroughly dominant wins. Saturday was more of the same, as they jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period despite Brown having a few decent chances and the edge in shots.

Cornell never looked back, scoring three more goals and outshooting Brown 26-10 the rest of the game. The Bears finally got on the board 12 minutes into the third period, breaking All-American goalie Annalies Bergmann’s shutout streak that spanned most of four games (take THAT!). It was ultimately futile, as the Big Red scored again three minutes later and held the Bears to just four shots in the third period. Overall, the shot totals were 32-19 in favor of Cornell.

Key Takeaways:

This one started promisingly for Brown, as they forechecked hard and generated a few half chances early on. But, ultimately, it felt over from the opening puck drop, and it had nothing to do with Brown. Cornell is just that good. My only real takeaway is that Cornell is a step ahead of the rest of the ECAC, and the Bears are clearly a tier or two behind them — and there’s no shame in that.

Personally, I can’t believe the Red are ranked fourth. The three teams in front of them all have losses, and only Wisconsin has been as dominant at both ends of the ice. If Cornell escapes its home-and-home series with travel partners Colgate next weekend undefeated, they’ll be heavily favored in every game for the rest of November. They could very conceivably go into a gargantuan matchup against #7 Quinnipiac on December 5 at 14-0-0.

Stick Tap:

Congrats to Sam Broz on scoring her first goal of the season and ensuring Bergmann didn’t notch her fifth shutout in seven games (can you believe this shit??? I’m in disbelief as I’m staring at her stats lol).

MIH: A whole bunch of tricks, a few treats

Halloweekend 2025 was a frightful affair for the Brown men’s hockey team, as they dropped a pair of games at Air Force, 2-0 on Friday night and 4-2 on Saturday. The games were unavailable for streaming, so it’s a little hard to assess the Bears’ play, but we’ll give some thoughts based on the box score.

@ Air Force: L, 0-2

Candy: Milk Duds

This game was a total dud for Brown, so I figured the candy was appropriate. The Bears were completely overrun by Air Force early and often, relying on a tremendous performance from Tyler Shea to stay in the game until midway through the third period. Air Force led in shots 20-5 after a second period in which Brown mustered zero (0) shots on goal.

I think it’s fair to say this game was a disaster, even without watching any of it.

Key Takeaways:

A new-look Brown forward corps was unprepared to play real games against an opponent that had been playing for a month. I’m not sure what else we can read into this game.

Stick Tap:

Shea turned aside 32 Air Force shots, as they apparently kept the puck in Brown’s defensive end for most of the game and peppered the senior goaltender. Big props to him for his resilience.

Senior goaltender Tyler Shea's dazzling performances in Colorado were among the few bright spots for Brown.

@ Air Force: L, 3-4

Candy:Laffy Taffy

Laffy Taffy is tough to chew on at first, but once you get it going, the texture becomes pleasant and the flavor is palatable. Such was the case Saturday night in Colorado Springs, when Air Force quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead and chased junior netminder Freddie Halyk from the game before Brown rallied in the second period.

While these games weren’t streamed (supposedly due to the government shutdown), Air Force did post a few highlights on their Twitter account, including the second and third goals of the night. Halyk was heavily screened on both of them, so it’s hard to prescribe blame. My guess is Brendan Whittet gave him the hook to shock his team into playing harder. He finished with just two saves on five shots — a rough stat line for his Brown debut.

But replacing him with Shea appeared to work. Down 3-0 entering the second period, the Bears’ offense finally woke up. After Tanner Hartman cut the lead to 3-1 five or so minutes into the frame, the Falcons responded with a fourth goal around the midway point. But Brown wasn’t done — Ryan St. Louis and Brian Nicholas scored goals within 41 seconds of each other late in the period, and the Bears had cut the deficit to one. They outshot Air Force 17-7 in the period, the only period of the weekend in which they had the edge.

The rally fell short, as the Falcons were able to hang on in the third period for a 4-3 win.

Key Takeaways:

I mean, it’s good to see the offense finally score some goals, right? Otherwise, this game started disastrously, leveled out in the middle, and then went out with a whimper. Once again, it’s hard to comment on the play without having watched the game, but Brown simply needs to start stronger and play to the level they demonstrated they’re capable of in the second period.

Stick Taps:

Once again, Shea put forth an inspired performance, stopping 21 of 22 shots in a relief appearance. Halyk may have had an off night, or the defense may not have done him any favors — either way, it was great to see Shea get rewarded for two years working his butt off as a backup on College Hill.
The top six finally got going a little bit — Ivan Zadvernyuk had two assists as his linemate Hartman scored the team’s first goal of the season, Nicholas and St. Louis notched goals, Charlie Gollob had an assist and launched seven shots at the net. They need to start much stronger and play with more consistency, but at least they showed up and produced.
Two freshmen notched their first collegiate points, as Matt Desiderio had two assists on the same shift in the second period and Matt Cataldo also assisted on the third goal.

The comforts of home

Both teams will return home next weekend, as the men host Princeton and #5 Quinnipiac Friday and Saturday evening in their home openers. The women host new Division I opponent Delaware Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

The men face by far the more daunting challenge — Princeton swept Alaska last weekend, 5-2 and 6-3, and we all know how good Quinnipiac is. While Alaska is not a strong team this year, they actually beat Quinnipiac at a tournament early in the season. Princeton had some questions regarding scoring entering the season, but putting up 11 goals over two nights is impressive regardless of the opponent.

On the women’s side, Delaware is what you’d expect a new program to be: they’ve started 1-11-0, have been shut out five times, and have yet to score more than two goals in a game while allowing four or more in eight games. The Bears should have little trouble with the Blue Hens.

We’ll have a more thorough preview article up later this week to break down the upcoming matchups. Until then, let’s wash down the bitter taste from this past weekend, finish pigging out on our Halloween candy (anyone ever heard of Zots? They’re insanely addicting and we have entirely too many of them left in our house), and stay positive. Go Bruno!

About the Author

Kevin

Stay Updated with Bears Hockey