PROVIDENCE, R.I. - With 44 saves by freshman goalie Jon Gillies (South Portland, Maine) and timely goal scoring, the men's hockey team blanked the University of Massachusetts, 2-0, on Saturday night at Schneider Arena to complete a weekend sweep of the Minutemen. With the victory, which included goals by sophomore Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis.) and senior Tim Schaller (Merrimack, N.H.), the Friars improved to 9-8-3 (7-4-2 HEA). Massachusetts moved to 7-11-2 (4-8-1 HEA) on the year.
With the win, the Friars claimed the season series versus the Minutemen for the third consecutive season (2-1-0 in 2012-13). Gillies' save total of 44 tied for the 17th most all-time in a single game at Providence and was the most in a game since Alex Beaudry made 47 saves on Oct. 31, 2009 in a 2-1 Friar win at UMass. It was Gillies' third shutout of the season, a total that Beaudry equaled last season, but he became the first freshman in Friar history with three shutouts.
After a scoreless first period, Providence took a 1-0 lead at the 18:13 mark of the second when Mauermann one-timed a feed from junior right wing Derek Army (North Kingston, R.I.). The pass crossed the front of the net and was buried at the top of the crease by Mauermann. Freshman Brandon Tanev (Toronto, Ontario) also earned an assist on the play. Despite being outshot in the second period, 21-4, the Friars carried their 1-0 lead into the third.
The Friars extended their lead to 2-0 on a goal from senior center Tim Schaller (Merrimack, N.H.) at the 9:58 mark of the third period. The goal marked Schaller's fifth of the season. He was assisted on the play by senior defenseman Myles Harvey (Orlando, Fla.) and freshman defenseman Tom Parisi (Commack, N.Y.). Parisi's assist marked the first of his Friar career.
In the UMass net, sophomore Steve Mastalerz finished with 22 saves. Both penalty kill units turned in perfect nights as the Friars finished 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Minutemen were also 0-for-4.
The Friars are back in action at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 17 at UMass Lowell in a game that will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network. The teams will meet for the first time since the Friars downed the RiverHawks, two games to one, in the 2012 Hockey East Quarterfinals.
Notes
The Friars won the season series versus the Minutemen for the third consecutive season (2-1-0 in 2012-13; 2-0-1 in 2011-12; 1-0-2 in 2010-11) ... Gillies' save total of 44 ties for the 17th most all-time in a single game at Providence and was the most in a game since Alex Beaudry made 47 saves on Oct. 31, 2009 in a 2-1 Friar win over UMass at the Mullins Center ... It was Gillies' third shutout of the season, a total that Beaudry equaled last season, but he became the first freshman in Friar history with three shutouts ... Dating back to his hat trick against Northeastern, Derek Army has 12 points (7-5-12) in 11 games played ... The Friars are now 8-1-1 when scoring first ... Ross Mauermann has five points in his last five games played (2-3-5) ... Freshman Tom Parisi recorded his first assist of the season a night after his classmate Nick Saracino registered his first assist with the Friars, meaning 21 Friars have now recorded an assist this year ... Freshman Brandon Tanev had an assist in both games over the weekend, marking his first back-to-back games with a point ... Myles Harvey also had an assist in both games, running his team-leading assist total to 10 (matching his season high mark of 10 set last season).