PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Entering the game tied for third in Hockey East, the Providence College Men's Hockey team grabbed an early 2-0 lead but could not overcome three consecutive goals from the No. 10/11 Boston University Terriers on Friday, Jan. 25 in front of a sold-out crowd at Schneider Arena.
The Friars (10-10-3, 8-6-2 HEA) took a 2-0 lead in the first period courtesy of goals from sophomore Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis.) and freshman Brandon Tanev (Toronto, Ontario). But Evan Rodrigues scored the first two goals for the Terriers (13-9-0, 10-6-0) and Sahir Gill's wraparound at 7:14 of the third period proved to be the eventual game winner. Providence goaltender Jon Gillies (South Portland, Maine) made 22 saves while Sean Maguire stopped 32 shots for the Terriers, including 13 in the third period.
Mauermann gave the Friars a 1-0 lead at 7:52 of the first period when he capped off a pretty play up the ice with his linemates, freshmen Nick Saracino (St. Louis, Mo.) and Paul de Jersey (West Vancouver, B.C.). De Jersey dished the puck to Saracino, who then fed Mauermann with a cross ice pass. Mauermann tipped the puck past Maguire from right outside of the crease, registering his ninth goal of the season. Providence extended the lead to 2-0 when Tanev scored his second goal in as many games with the tally at 16:48 of the period. Freshman Will Goss (Wellesley, Mass.) recorded his first collegiate point on the play when his shot found its' way through traffic to senior Kyle Murphy (Fairhaven, N.J.). Murphy got a shot off from the slot that Maguire made the original save on, but Tanev capitalized on the rebound, extending the lead for Providence.
Boston University responded to the Friar offense before the period ended when Rodrigues scored his first goal of the game with a shot from face-off circle that beat Gillies at 19:17. Danny O'Regan and Matt Nieto assisted on the play.
The Terriers evened the score at 5:52 of the second period when Rodrigues notched his second goal of the night. As he was falling, Rodrigues managed to slide the puck past Gillies to tie the game from right outside of the face-off circle.
In the third period, the Terriers too the lead when Sahir Gill scored on a wraparound at 7:14. Gill skated around a Friar defenseman in front of the crease who had lost his stick and scored what proved to be his second game winner of the year.
The Friars will finish their home-and-home series with Boston University tomorrow, Jan. 26 at Agganis Arena. The season finale between the Hockey East rivals will be televised live at 7:00 p.m. on NESN.
Notes
Ross Mauermann has nine points (4-5-9) in his last eight games for the Friars ... Mauermann is now tied with Alex Velischek for the team lead in points against BU (each player has four career points versus the Terriers) ... Freshman Will Goss notched his first career point with an assist on Tanev's goal ...With Goss' point, 22 Friars have at least one assist and one point on the season ... Freshmen Nick Saracino and Brandon Tanev each have three points in their last 2 games ... the Friars PK unit went four-for-four on the kill, marking the second time in the last four games the Friars have held an opponent to an 0-for-4 mark on the power play (also did so in a 2-0 win versus UMass on Jan. 11) ... Due to rink construction, capacity at Schneider Arena has been reduced to 2,089 for the remainder of the season.