Jan. 28, 2005

Mike Meech had a hat trick, including the game-winner early in the third period, as the Brown men's hockey team capitalized on its power play to defeat Yale 5-3 at Ingalls Rink.

Brown (10-6-3, 5-5-2) scored four times in nine attempts with the advantage, including twice with a two-man edge despite being outshot by the Blue 35-23. Meech had a pair of power-play scores and an empty-netter and now has eight goals on the season.

Yale junior Christian Jensen opened the scoring by taking advantage of some open ice in a four-on-four situation in the first period. The Bulldog winger grabbed his own rebound off a blocked shot and sent a low snap shot past Adam D'Alba at 3:24.

D'Alba, the freshman who made a number of big saves down the stretch and finished with 32 stops, saw his team outshot 15-6 in the opening frame.

Brown evened the score with a man advantage at 12:48 when Meech sent a high wrister past Matt Modelski (18 saves) after skating into the slot alone from the boards.

Jean Francois Boucher picked up his first career goal last week against Connecticut, and he made it two with a power-play score to put Yale (2-for-8 on the power play) ahead 2-1 at 8:08 of the first.

Both teams had chances to cash in on two-man advantages over the first half of the game but could not connect. That is until the Bears jumped all over a five-on-three for 1:09 midway through the second. Brown scored twice and took its first lead.

First David Robertson one-timed a crossing pass that went low past Modelski at 10:28. Then, 63 seconds later, Brian McNary beat the Yale defense to a loose puck in the low slot and banged it into an open side of the net on a rebound to make it 3-2 at 11:31.

Yale tied the score again after a great move by Jensen set up Brad Mills for an easy put-back at 5:19 of the third. Jensen took a feed from Jeff Hristovski and skated past a few defenders before trying to tuck the puck past D'Alba, who made the initial save. The puck sat near the goal line for Mills to snap it home and make it 3-3.

The draw last a bit more than two minutes because two Yale players were sent off for penalties to set up another five-on-three goal, which was also the game-winner. Meech got to the puck after a shot and sent a backhander over Modelski at 7:25.

Yale (3-16-1, 2-11) had many chances to tie it again but the Brown rookie goalie stood tall and made nine saves in the final period.

Note: There are some tickets available for Saturday night's Harvard game, which can be seen live on Comcast's CN8 TV or on the web at www.cn8.tv. The Ingalls Rink ticket office will open at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director