PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College men's hockey team and UMass Lowell played to a 3-3 overtime tie on Friday, February 25 at Schneider Arena. With the tie, the Friars moved to 7-16-8 overall and 3-14-7 in Hockey East. The River Hawks are now 4-24-3 overall and 3-20-1 in the league. It marked the 11th overtime game for the Friars, setting a school record for most overtime contests.
After a scoreless first period, the two teams netted three goals each in the second period as the game was tied going into the third. Senior Matt Germain (Rockland, Mass.) scored his eighth goal of the season just 27 seconds into the period to give the Friars a 1-0 lead. However, the River Hawks scored three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 edge. David Vallorani evened the score (1-1) at 1:08 when he connected on his 10th goal. Joseph Pendenza then added two goals in a span of 1:21, including a power-play goal at 9:02 as the River Hawks had a two-goal advantage.
The Friars then scored two goals in 58 seconds to even the game. Junior Matt Bergland (Faribault, Minn.) notched his third goal of the season as freshman Rem Vanderbeek (Warren, N.J.) assisted on the play to pick up his first collegiate point at 13:35. Germain then netted the equalizer at 14:27 as junior Andy Balysky (Randolph, N.J.) picked up his second assist of the night. It marked Germain's career-high ninth goal.
The Friars outshot the River Hawks, 42-36, as UML goalie Doug Carr finished with 39 stops. PC netminder Alex Beaudry (Cumberland, Ont.) made 33 saves.
The two teams will complete the weekend home-and-home series Saturday night at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass.