PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Men's Hockey team used career days from Kevin Hart (Cumberland, Maine), who scored a goal and added three assists, and Jon Gillies (Portland, Maine), who turned in 35 saves, to claim the 27th annual Mayor's Cup with a 7-0 win against cross-town rival Brown on Saturday evening at Meehan Auditorium.
After taking a 1-0 lead through one period of play, the Friar offense exploded for six goals in the final 40 minutes of play, including three power-play tallies, to return the Mayor's Cup to Schneider Arena. Gillies helped the Friars improve to 6-5-1 (4-3-0) on the year by notching his second shutout of the season, while Brown's Marco DeFilippo was handed the loss but made 32 saves as the Bears moved to 2-4-2 (0-2-2 ECAC) on the year.
The Friars took a 1-0 lead at 3:28 of the first when Kyle Murphy (Fairhaven, N.J.) jammed home his second of the year. Kevin Hart (Cumberland, Maine) put a shot on goal that was saved, and then Derek Army (North Kingstown, R.I.) kept the play alive in front before Murphy was able to net what proved to be the game-winning goal.
In the second period, the Friars went up 2-0 on the power play when Drew Brown (Grass Lake, Mich.) took a pass from Shane Luke (Dauphin Manitoba) in the neutral zone, cut into the offensive zone and let a wrist shot fly from the near slot that beat DeFilippo high to the glove side. The lead increased to 3-0 when Tom Parisi (Commack, N.Y.) netted his first career goal. After working the puck around while on the power play, Parisi snapped off a shot from the point that went through a screen in front and found the back of the night. Army and Hart assisted on the play.
The scoring continued in the third when Hart finished off a three-on-one rush with his second goal of the year, beating DeFilippo five-hole after a drop pass from Jankowski. Next, Red shirt freshman Noel Acciari (Johnston, R.I.) tipped in a nice pass in the slot from Kevin Rooney (Canton, Mass.) to make it 5-0 in favor of the Friars, with Chris Rooney (Canton, Mass.) also assisting on the play. It marked Kevin Rooney's first career point with the Friars.
Skating with the five-on-three advantage, Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis.) made it 6-0 with a backhander from in front at 16:22 of the third. Luke and senior Alex Velischek (Kinnelon, N.J.) assisted on Mauremann's team leading fifth goal of the year. Freshman Brandon Tanev (Toronto, Ontario) capped off the scoring for the Friars with a slap shot from the top of the circles that made it 7-0 at 18:08. Chris Rooney assisted on the play, which was Tanev's second goal of the year.
The Friars return to Hockey East play with a home-and-home series this weekend versus rival Merrimack. On Friday, Nov. 30, Providence plays at 7:00 p.m. at North Andover, Mass. Then on Saturday, Dec. 1, Providence welcomes the Warriors to Schneider Arena, also at 7:00 p.m.