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| Bears head Coach Brendan Whittet (Brown Athletics) |
Jumping forward a week, the Bears will open league play at Harvard on Friday, November 2. Harvard emerged victorious in Cambridge in a game where every officiating call possible went against Brown. I won't get into it because it's water under the bridge, but I was at the game and watched the replays on the Harvard jumbotron, and I could not have been more displeased with the missed calls.
In Providence, the Crimson jumped out to a 3-1 second period lead before Brown rallied for a spirited 3-3 tie. This series hasn't had as much bite in it as in previous years, but the results have still been extremely close and hard-fought. In the 2009 playoffs, 12th-ranked Brown went into the Bright Hockey Center expected by many to be swept away by a clearly superior Harvard team. However, the Bears managed to do something no one had done in Harvard's storied 100-plus-year history: shutout the Crimson in back-to-back games at home, largely on the back of Mike Clemente's stellar goalkeeping.
Brown would go on to be swept by a juggernaut of a Yale team in the quarterfinals, but beating Harvard on its own home ice was inspiring enough (and, perhaps, exacted a measure of revenge for their victory over Brown in the 2004 playoffs, when the Bears were one of the favorites to win the ECAC Tournament).
I think most Brown alumni and fans would consider Harvard their biggest rival in all sports (maybe not lacrosse), even though the Crimson don't seem to give us much thought. Whenever we beat Harvard in any sport, you can see how much it means to the players. The Harvard game is often promoted as some sort of fan-centered event, such as a "Whiteout" or a giveaway of some gimmicky item. Though this game is on the road, it's still a big one for the Brown fanbase- last year, the allegedly sold out crowd at Bright was made up of probably one-third Brown fans. When these two teams meet, it's a big deal for Brown.
In Providence, the Crimson jumped out to a 3-1 second period lead before Brown rallied for a spirited 3-3 tie. This series hasn't had as much bite in it as in previous years, but the results have still been extremely close and hard-fought. In the 2009 playoffs, 12th-ranked Brown went into the Bright Hockey Center expected by many to be swept away by a clearly superior Harvard team. However, the Bears managed to do something no one had done in Harvard's storied 100-plus-year history: shutout the Crimson in back-to-back games at home, largely on the back of Mike Clemente's stellar goalkeeping.
Brown would go on to be swept by a juggernaut of a Yale team in the quarterfinals, but beating Harvard on its own home ice was inspiring enough (and, perhaps, exacted a measure of revenge for their victory over Brown in the 2004 playoffs, when the Bears were one of the favorites to win the ECAC Tournament).
I think most Brown alumni and fans would consider Harvard their biggest rival in all sports (maybe not lacrosse), even though the Crimson don't seem to give us much thought. Whenever we beat Harvard in any sport, you can see how much it means to the players. The Harvard game is often promoted as some sort of fan-centered event, such as a "Whiteout" or a giveaway of some gimmicky item. Though this game is on the road, it's still a big one for the Brown fanbase- last year, the allegedly sold out crowd at Bright was made up of probably one-third Brown fans. When these two teams meet, it's a big deal for Brown.
Check out the entire post on Meehan Madness.
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