Nick Saracino’s OT Goal Lifts Friars Past Black Bears in Maine

PC news release…

ORONO, Maine – Senior Nick Saracino’s goal 2:13 into overtime gave the sixth-ranked Providence College men’s hockey team a 1-0 shutout win over the Maine Black Bears at Alfond Arena on Friday night.

The Friars improve to 18-5-4 (9-3-3 HEA) with the win and lock down two important points to maintain their fourth-place position in the Hockey East standings.  Providence threw everything they had at Maine goaltender Matt Morris, who stopped 50-of-51 shots to drop to 6-6-3 overall.  Nick Ellis turned away all 19 shots he faced to record his third shutout this season and fourth of his career.

A scoreless deadlock after one period yielded some good chances for both teams, with the Friars grabbing the majority of those chances with sustained zone time in the Black Bears’ zone.  Jake Walman paced Providence with three shots in the opening period, including a snap shot that nearly eluded Morris midway through.

Ellis needed to be sharp in the early going with the Friars facing a shorthanded situation just 15 seconds in as he denied Steven Swavely and Rob Michel with some point-blank attempts in the opening moments.

The Friars continued to swarm the Maine end in the second with a great bid early on by Mark Jankowski on a centering feed from Erik Foley, after the freshman’s hustle nullified an icing.  Outshooting the Black Bears by a 20-5 margin in the middle stanza, Providence still could not break one through Morris, who made 31 stops through 40 minutes.

Dogged work on the penalty kill gave the Friars some momentum in the final minutes as the Friars, continued to possess the puck in the Maine zone.

The Black Bears were able to generate some good looks in the third period, highlighted by Cam Brown’s breakaway before being robbed by the left pad of Ellis to keep the game scoreless.

Saracino looked to put the game on ice in the waning seconds of regulation as Brian Pinho found him all alone below the circles, but Morris was able to poke check it away.  The senior started off overtime with a drive to the net that was just broken up before he could stuff it home.  The third chance proved to be the one as Pinho dished over to Saracino at the halfwall, who then cut across the slot and wired a wrister over the shoulder of Morris to give the Friars the win.

Up next, the Friars and Black Bears will tangle once again tomorrow night for the back-end of the weekend doubleheader.

HOW THEY SCORED

1-0 (PC) Goal scored by Nick Saracino (Pinho): Cut to slot off the halfwall, wrist shot over the shoulder of Morris.

NOTES

Providence earned its first overtime win at Alfond Arena since Nov. 19, 1983 … The Friars extended their unbeaten streak against Maine to 11 games (10-0-1) and have won seven in a row overall … Saracino recorded his first career overtime goal and sixth game-winning goal overall … Walman led the team with six shots on goal … Ellis recorded his third shutout of the season and fourth of his career … Power Plays: Providence – 0/2, Maine 0/2 … official shots on goal: Providence 51, Maine 19 … Attendance: 3,688.?