PC Friars Offense Explodes in 5-1 Win at Northeastern

PC news release…

BOSTON, Mass. — The No. 16 Providence College men’s hockey team scored five unanswered goals in the second and third periods to defeat Northeastern, 5-1, on Wednesday night at Matthews Arena (1,634).

Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis.) and Trevor Mingoia (Fairport, N.Y.) each finished the night with two goals and an assist as Providence (8-5-1, 6-3-0 HEA) won its fourth game in a row. In the Friar net, Jon Gillies (South Portland, Maine) finished with 26 saves to earn the win, while Nick Saracino (St. Louis, Mo.) and Mark Jankowski(Dundas, Ontario) each finished with two assists.

Clay Witt finished with 26 saves in the Northeastern (3-10-1, 2-6-1) goal.

Northeastern took a 1-0 lead at 18:08 of the first period while on the power play. Matt Benning fired a shot wide of the Friar goal and the puck bounced back out front to an open Colton Saucerman, who beat Gillies for his second goal of the season.

The Friars put 10 shots on goal in the first period, but Northeastern goaltender Clay Witt saved all 10 to give the Huskies the 1-0 lead after one period of play.

Providence came out firing in the second, eventually building a 3-1 lead.

Just as a Friar power play was set to expire, Jankowski was able to shovel a puck from center ice to a streaking Jake Walman (Toronto, Ontario) down the near side of the ice. Walman broke into the offensive zone and hit Mingoia (Fairport, N.Y.) in the slot, who deked Witt and slid a backhander into an empty net to tie the game, 1-1, at 1:27.

Then, after the Friars killed off a Northeastern power play, Josh Monk (Langley, British Columbia) stepped out of the penalty box and corralled a pass from deep in the Providence zone. He quickly got it across the ice to Saracino, who skated around the Huskies’ defense and hit a wide open Mauermann at the far post. Mauermann ripped a wrist shot high past Witt for his second goal in the last two games at 5:49.

Providence went up 3-1 at 7:15 of the second when Noel Acciari (Johnston, R.I.) scored his first of the season. Mingoia got the puck to Mauermann outside the faceoff circle along the boards to Witt’s right. Mauermann then whipped a cross-ice pass to Acciari as he broke towards the net and the junior co-captain beat Witt high to the glove side.

In the third, Tanev broke up a Northeastern play at the Friar defensive blue line and slid the puck to Mauermann, who beat a NU defenseman and then cut towards the top of the crease and forced the puck past Witt down low. The goal came at 8:26 of the third, while the Friars were killing a Northeastern power play. It was Providence’s first short-handed goal of the season and the sixth of Mauermann’s career.

Mingoia capped the scoring at 16:04 of the third when he buried a Saracino pass from behind the net at the near post.

Each team finished 1-for-7 with the man advantage.

The Friars are and Huskies close out their two-game series at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 at Schneider Arena. The game will be televised locally on CoxSports on OSN.

Notes
Providence’s five goals were the most it has scored this season and its most since a 5-4 win over UMass Lowell on Jan. 24, 2014 … With two goals and an assist, Ross Mauermann posted his first multi-point game of the season and the 19th of his career … Mauermann also notched his 12th career game-winning goal as well as his sixth-career short-handed tally … With two goals and an assist, Trevor Mingoia recorded his career three-point game and his first-career two-goal game … It also marked Mingoia’s fourth multi-point game of the season … After posting three consecutive shutouts for the first time in program history, the Friars’ shutout streak ended at 239:32, while Jon Gillies shutout streak was snapped at 179:32 … Providence’s successful penalty kill streak, which stretched back to Nov. 7 versus Merrimack, was snapped at 29 penalty kills in a row … Nate Leaman now has 199 career wins as a Div. I head coach.