PROVIDENCE, R.I. - For the second night in a row, the Providence College Friars and the Miami University RedHawks required extra time to decide the game's outcome. After 65 minutes of play on Saturday night at Schneider Arena the non-conference match-up ended in a 4-4 tie. With the tie, the Friars remain unbeaten on the season (4-0-1).
The Friars got off to a fast start scoring two goals within the first ten minutes of play. Senior defenseman Steven Shamanski (Carberry, Manitoba) and red-shirt sophomore Noel Acciari (Johnston, R.I.) both netted their first goals of the season to give Providence a 2-0 lead. Back-and-forth scoring between the No. 3 RedHawks and the No. 8 Friars led to the first period ending with the Friars up, 3-2.
One goal for each team in the second period gave the Friars a 4-3 advantage heading into the final period of regulation time. Miami's Riley Barber evened the score at 4:53 of the third period and after playing the remainder of the third period without any additional scoring, as the teams eventually played to a 4-4 tie.
Providence goaltender Jon Gillies (South Portland, Maine) made 37 saves in the tie, while Ryan McKay stopped 24 shots for the RedHawks. Miami outshot the Friars, 41-28.
In the first period, Miami forward Sean Kuraly had an early opportunity to put his team ahead but Gillies made a sprawling glove save to keep the game scoreless. The first goal was scored by Providence defenseman Shamanski at 8:58 when he forced a turnover along the neutral zone boards and made his way around a Miami defenseman before a deke allowed him to slide the puck past McKay. Shamanski's first goal of the season came unassisted.
Identically to Shamanski, Acciari also notched his first goal of the season, an unassisted one at 9:25 of the opening period. Acciari skated in to the Miami zone with freshman linemate Niko Rufo (Stoneham, Mass.) on an odd man rush, but elected to take the shot on the play and fired the puck over McKay for a 2-0 lead.
Directly following Acciari's goal, the Friars had a power play opportunity which was quickly negated by a shorthanded tally from Riley Barber. Barber beat Gillies with a shot from the left face-off circle to cut the lead to 2-1.
Providence answered back during the same two-minute minor penalty. Junior Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis.) scored his fourth goal of the season. Sophomore Nick Saracino (St. Louis, Mo.) connected a pass with senior Kevin Hart (Cumberland, Maine), who took a shot from the blue line that made its way through traffic and left a rebound in the crease. Mauermann gained possession of the rebound and sent the puck into the empty net to regain a two-goal Providence lead at 10:24 of the first.
Just before the close of the first period, the RedHawks netted a power-play goal narrowing the Friar lead to 3-2. Alex Wideman's shot from the right faceoff circle found its way high over Gillies. Barber and Austin Czarnik each earned their second point of the night with an assist on the goal.
The Friars once again grabbed a two-goal lead when Hart scored the Friars' second power-play goal of the game at 3:51 of the second period. Passing by Mauermann and Saracino while on the man advantage eventually led to a play that set Hart up at the point. The shot made its way through the traffic in front of the net and went past McKay, who was screened on the play.
Miami forward Bryon Paulazzo scored the final goal of the second period at 14:41 after a mishap in front of the Friar net. Gillies had made a series of saves leading up to the goal but was past the goal line when he tried to stop Paulazzo's shot and could not keep the puck from entering the net.
The only goal scored in the final period of regulation was Barber's second of the game, which came at 4:53 of the period. The power=play tally was scored off a shot from the right faceoff circle, with the assists going to Czarnik and Caito.
The five-minute period of extra time featured back-and-forth chances for both teams but neither could find a way to clinch the victory. Miami got three shots on goal in the overtime, while sophomore Mark Jankowski (Dundas, Ontario) recorded the lone shot on goal for the Friars.
Special teams played a large role in the game as more than half of the goals were scored with someone in the box. Providence went 2-for-3 on the power play. The RedHawks scored twice on the power play on five opportunities, while also adding a shorthanded goal.
The Friars five-game homestand comes to a close next weekend with their first Hockey East match-up of the season. Providence will play a home-and-home series with No. 13/14 Boston University starting with a game in Boston, Mass. on Friday, November 1 at 7:00np.m. The series will conclude on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Schneider Arena. Puck drop is set for 8:00p.m.
Notes The all-time series between Providence and Miami is now tied at 4-4-2 ... Steven Shamanski and Noel Acciari each scored their first goals of the season ... The Friars are on a five-game unbeaten streak for the first time since Jan. 26-Feb.23, 2013 when they went seven games without a loss ... Nick Saracino had his first multi-point game of the season and the fourth of his career ... Saracino also set a career high with two assists ... The Friars have scored at least one power play goal in each game this season.