PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown women’s ice hockey returns to Meehan Auditorium after a four-game road swing, and welcomes ECAC Hockey foes Union and Rensselaer this weekend. The Bears (1-2-2, 0-2-2) take on RPI (2-7-3, 0-3-1) Friday night, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m., before facing Union (3-7-1, 1-2-1) on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 4 p.m. Brown, which currently stands in 10th in the ECAC, a point ahead of RPI and one behind Union, could make a move up the standings with wins this weekend.

A Look at RPI

The Engineers are coming off of two close 2-1 losses to Clarkson and St. Lawrence. RPI also tied Princeton 1-1 in overtime and lost a 2-0 contest to Quinnipiac. Senior captain Alisa Harrison leads the Rensselaer attack with nine points (5 G, 4 A) on the season. Classmate Laura Guillemette (3 G, 3A) and sophomore Jordan Smelker (2 G, 4 A) each have six points.

RPI boasts two freshman goaltenders that split time between the pipes. Brianna Piper has a .897 save percentage and 2.55 goals against average with 140 saves in six starts. Kelly O’Brien has both of RPI’s wins this season with totals of .920 save percentage, 1.87 goals against and 127 saves.

A Look at Union

The Dutchwomen come to Meehan Auditorium on their first league road trip with confidence after posting a successful 1-0-1 ECAC weekend last time out. Union downed Clarkson 2-1, before tying St. Lawrence 1-1 in overtime. Prior to its big conference weekend, Union had dropped contests to Princeton (2-1) and Quinnipiac (5-1).

Freshman Bryanne Panchuk has been the Dutchwomen’s leading point scorer through 10 games with seven points (3 G, 4 A). Senior Emilie Arseneault leads a group of seven players that all have five points. Arsenault leads the team with four goals.

Three players have seen time in net for Union. Junior Alana Marcinko leads the team with six games played, 265:07 and 144 saves. Rookie Shenae Lundberg paces the Dutchwomen five starts but has a .864 save percentage and a 4.41 goals against average. Senior Kate Gallagher has only made two starts this season, but is 1-0-1 with a .967 save percentage and 1.26 goals against average. She is also the reigning ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week.

A New Era For Brown

The winds of change have swept through Meehan Auditorium as new head coach Amy Bourbeau takes the reigns of the program as just the third bench boss in Brown history. Bourbeau joins the Bears after spending the past 14 years as an assistant coach at Princeton University. The first-year coach also brought in two new assistants. Andy McPhee, who was the 2005, 2008 and 2010 NESCAC Coach of the year at Trinity College, and Lucy Schoebel, who was an assistant coach at Wesleyan University in 2010-11 and a two-time Kazmaier Award nominee at Syracuse University.

48 Stops

Junior goalie Katie Jamieson (Waterloo, Ontario) was sensational in Brown’s 2-2 at Quinnipiac on Saturday, Nov. 5. Jamieson faced a barrage of shots against one of the top teams in the ECAC this season and made 48 saves in an impressive performance, which gave the Bears their second conference point of the season. Rookies Shannon Flatley (Toronto, Ontario) and Brittany Moorehead (Clinton, N.Y.) tallied their first career goals in the effort.

A Close Return

For the first time in 14 years, Amy Bourbeau was not on the home bench in Baker Rink. Bourbeau returned to Princeton after serving her long tenure as the assistant coach for the Tigers, but this time as the head coach of the Bears. Brown went toe-to-toe with Princeton for the entire game, but a power play goal by the Tigers' Olivia Mucha proved to be the difference in the 1-0 contest. Sophomore goaltender Aubree Moore (Bowie Md.) was once again stellar in net for Brown (1-2-1, 0-2-1), making 28 saves, 19 in the final period.

A "Backbone" Performance

Brown picked up its first ECAC Hockey point of the season in the team's first conference game at Colgate on Friday, Oct. 28, thanks to sophomore netminder Aubree Moore (Bowie, Md.). Moore made 37 stops in a 1-1 overtime tie against the Red Raiders and was awarded the teams "Golden Skate" award, given to the team's top star. Coach Bourbeau crediting Moore, saying she was indeed the "backbone" of the team in that game.

All For One; One For All

In last Saturday's season-opening win versus Sacred Heart at Meehan Auditorium, not only did the Bears tally 10 goals on the day, the most scored since a 10-1 win at Quinnipiac on Nov. 18, 2003, but 13 different players tallied at least one point. Eight players also had at least two points, with five registering three or more.

Captain's Trick

2011 senior co-captain Katelyn Landry (Belmont, Mass.) made her impact on the 2011-12 season immediately as she tallied the first hat trick of her collegiate career. Landry scored the first and second goals of the game in a 10- shutout of Sacred Heart. With just over five minutes to play in the second period, Landry put her third past Pioneer goal-keeping for the hat trick.

Four-Point Day

Sophomore forward Emilie Dolan (Montreal, Quebec) had her coming-out party against Sacred Heart in the season-opener. Dolan played in 29 games as a rookie, but tallied her first collegiate point 4:06 into the second period of the game, on an assist of classmate Jessica Hoyle's (Toronto, Ontario) power play goal. Dolan then put her name in the books three more times. She put in a short-handed goal at 14:57 in the second and then an even-strength blast at 14:55 of the third. Her four-point day was capped on the Bears' 10th goal of the day, which she picked up an assist on.

Immediate Dividends

The Brown rookie class made a strong showing the first game of the season as all six players saw ice time. Janice Yang (Westport, Conn.) led the way with three points on three assists, helping on the first two goals of the game. Shannon Flatley (Toronto, Ontario) also registered an assist on the second goal of the game. Lauren Vella (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Brittany Moorehead (Clinton, N.Y.) also tallied their first points of the season on assists.

Strong Scheduling

It will be another tough ECAC slate and nonconference schedule this season as the Bears will play ten games (six different opponents) against teams that have been ranked in the top-10 this year. Brown will also play eight more against teams that have at least received votes in the national polls.

Senior Leadership

Head women's ice hockey coach Amy Bourbeau has announced that senior defender Paige Pyett (Milestone, Saskatchewan) and senior forward Katelyn Landry (Belmont, Mass.) will serve as team captains for the 2011-12 season. Pyett is a former ECAC All-Rookie team selection, while Landry was last season's team scholar-athlete, earning the academic excellence award.

50th Anniversary of Meehan Auditorium

This season marks the 50th anniversary of Brown's George V. Meehan Auditorium which opened during the 1961-62 season. Brown will feature a special center-ice logo as well as a patch that will be sported on its home and away uniforms. Both the men's and women's team will host a doubleheader on December 3, to celebrate the anniversary. The women will take on Princeton while the men face Yale.