PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Led by Derek Army's first career hat trick, the Providence College men's hockey team posted a 6-2 victory over Hockey East rival Northeastern University on Friday night at Schneider Arena.
The Friars (5-4-1, 4-3-0 HEA) dominated offensively throughout the game recording at least a goal in each period. Goals from Chris Rooney (Canton, Mass.), Mark Jankowski (Dundas, Ontario) and Army (North Kingstown, R.I.) in the second period proved to be enough to hold off the Huskies (4-5-1, 2-5-1) in order to earn the win. Freshman goaltender Jon Gillies (South Portland, Maine) back stopping the Friars to the win with 22 saves.
Senior Tim Schaller (Merrimack, N.H.) gave Providence the lead in the first period after he fired a shot that initially went high and hit off the glass behind Northeastern goaltender Chris Rawlings. The puck bounced right back in front of the crease and deflected in off of Rawlings, giving the Friars the advantage at 8:28 of the frame. Schaller's second goal of the season was assisted by freshmen Paul de Jersey (West Vancouver, B.C.) and Brandon Tanev (Toronto, Ont.).
The Friars continued to put pressure on the Huskies, notching three goals in the second period. Chris Rooney opened the scoring in the period with an unassisted goal at 1:41, his first goal of the season. After Rawlings made the save on his initial shot, Rooney buried the puck after gaining possession of the rebound. After being fed a pass from the boards by Jankowski, Army skated in close on the Huskies' goal before firing a backhander to extend the Friars lead to 3-0. Junior Steven Shamanski (Carberry, Man.) also tallied a helper on the eventual game winner for Providence. Following Army's goal, Rawlings was pulled in favor of Clay Witt (Rawlings finished with 10 saves). Jankowski capped off the second period offensive outburst with a power-play goal at 13:06. In the play leading up to the goal, the Friars demonstrated some pretty passing on the man advantage. Senior Myles Harvey (Orlando, Fla.) dished the puck to de Jersey, who fed the puck to Jankowski, who was wide open in the slot, who then beat Witt five-hole.
Providence kept up the offensive pressure in the third period when Army scored his second goal of the game at 4:44. The goal came as a result of hard work in front of the net with the help of freshman John Gilmour (Montreal, Que.) and Schaller, who both notched assists on the play. Army completed his first career hat trick at 8:07 of the third with another goal that came as a result of hard work in front of the net. Army gathered the puck after a shot by sophomore Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis.) was loose near the crease, and netted his third of the game. Jankowski recorded his third point of the game on the goal. The Huskies did get on the board twice after Army's final goal gave PC a 6-0 advantage. Northeastern scored twice on the man advantage, including tallies by Cody Ferriero (11:20) and Vinny Saponari (17:01).
The Friars return to Schneider Arena on Tuesday, November 20 for a game against Quinnipiac at 7:00 p.m.
Notes
Nick Saracino played his first game for the Friars making him the 11th player to debut for the Friars this season ... Derek Army registered his first career hat trick in the win, and the first hat trick for the Friars since Tim Schaller scored three against Vermont on Nov. 4, 2011 ... Army's hat trick was the first by a Hockey East player this season ... The Friars snapped a five-game winless streak (0-2-3) against Northeastern, recording their first win over the Huskies since Oct. 8, 2010 (PC 3, NU 2) ... The Friars now have 15 different players that have scored at least one goal this season ... Freshman Jon Gillies made his tenth consecutive start in goal ... The Friars are now 4-0-0 at home this season ... Mark Jankowski registered a career high 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists).