PROVIDENCE COLLEGE TOPPED BY MINNESOTA DULUTH, 5-2

Senior forward Andy Balysky scored a goal for the Friars

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College men's hockey ( 2-1-0) team suffered its first loss in a non-conference game against the defending national champion and No. 15 Minnesota-Duluth (2-3-0) by a final score of 5-2 on Friday night at Schneider Arena in front of a crowd of 2,012.

The Bulldogs capitalized early on into the game on a goal by Keegan Flaherty off a cross ice feed from Scott Kishel at 3:11 of the first period. The Friars tied up the game (1-1) at 11:31 on a rebound goal by senior Andy Balysky (Randolph, N.J.) with freshman Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis.) and sophomore Kevin Hart (Cumberland, Maine) registering assists. The goal was Balysky's first of the year as well as the first point of the year for Hart.

At 5:53 of the second period, the Bulldogs regained the lead on a goal by Travis Oleksuk with assists from Joe Basaraba and Max Tardy. The original shot by Basaraba trickled behind Friars senior goaltender Alex Beaudry (Cumberland, Ont.) and Oleksuk tapped in the puck into the net. UMD extended its lead to two (3-1) on a goal by Mike Seidel at 7:52. J.T. Brown and Brady Lamb both registered assists on the goal that would be the eventual game winner. The Friars cut the Bulldogs lead in half as senior David Brown (Centennial, Colo.) scored at 10:16 with freshman Barrett Kaib (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and junior Billy Simon (Burnsville, Minn.) assisting on the goal. The goal for Brown was the first of his collegiate career. The Friars would end the second period trailing the Bulldogs, 3-2.

Just 57 seconds into the third period, the Bulldogs once again regained their two-goal lead (4-2) on a goal by Oleskuk, his second of the night. UMD's Caleb Herbert scored a power-play goal at 14:46 to complete the scoring. Tardy and Chris Casto tallied assists on the goal.

The Friars were outshot by the Bulldogs 32-25. Beaudry stopped 27 shots in the loss. Minnesota-Duluth senior goaltender Kenny Reiter made 23 saves.

The two teams will return to the ice tomorrow night for the second of back-to-back games at Schneider Arena this weekend. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 pm.