PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Providence College men's hockey team was defeated, 4-2, by the Bowling Green Falcons Friday night in a non-conference game at Schneider Arena. The Falcons took a 2-0 first period lead and never looked back en route to their first win over PC since 1979.

BGSU opened the scoring just 3:04 into the first period when Derek Whitmore scored on a breakaway. Later that period, Rich Meloche gave the Falcons a two-goal cushion as he scored his first of the season. The Friars cut the lead to 2-1 at the 13:51 mark of the second period when senior Colin McDonald (Wethersfield, Conn.) pounced on a loose puck in front of net and tallied his team-leading third goal of the season.

Much like the first period, Bowling Green scored early in the third period, this time, 28 seconds into the period. Tomas Petruska's shot from the left faceoff circle found the back of the net to give BGSU a 3-1 advantage. The Friars responded just over eight minutes later as sophomore Nick Mazzolini (Anchorage, Alaska) fired a sharp-angle shot that went off the pad of BGSU goalie Eddie Neville and into the net.

The Friars continued to pressure the Falcons and had a chance to score the equalizer but Neville made a glove save on sophomore Matt Taormina's (Washington Township, Mich.) shot from the slot. Jonathan Matsumoto scored an empty-net goal with 51 seconds remaining to seal the win. Neville finished with 23 saves for Bowling Green, while PC's Tyler Sims (Grand Blanc, Mich.) stopped 24 shots.

The Friars are back in action Saturday night as they host Notre Dame at Schneider Arena. Opening faceoff is set for 7:35 p.m.